Treasury

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions his Department has had with insurance companies on recent trends in the level of the availability of insurance premiums that insure against (a) Research and Development Expenditure Credit and (b) Research and Development tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprises claims being disallowed.

Bim Afolami: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors on an ongoing basis.Insurers make commercial decisions about the terms of cover they offer, including for tax liabilities, based on their assessment on the likelihood of a claim being made. The Government does not intervene in these commercial decisions by insurers as this could damage competition in the market. The Government is committed to making Research & Development (R&D) claims as straightforward as possible. His Majesty’s Revenue & Customs (HMRC), are responsible for delivering the checks and compliance activity for R&D claims, in line with their professional standards for compliance.

Banks: Penrith and the Border

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to help prevent the closure of banks in Penrith and The Border constituency.

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to maintain appropriate banking access in areas with (a) closing banks and (b) poor digital connectivity.

Bim Afolami: Whilst the Government acknowledges that decisions to open or close a branch are commercial decisions for banks, and does not intervene on individual closures, it is imperative that banks and building societies recognise the needs of all their customers, including those who still need to use in-person services. The impact of branch closures must be mitigated where possible so that all customers, wherever they live, continue to have appropriate access to banking services. The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA)’s guidance sets out that firms must carefully consider the impact of planned branch closures on their customers’ everyday banking and cash access needs, and put in place reasonable alternatives. This seeks to ensure the implementation of closure decisions is done in a way that treats customers fairly. Where firms fall short, the FCA may ask for closures to be paused or other options to be put in place. Alternative options to access everyday banking services can be via telephone banking, through digital means such as mobile or online banking and via the Post Office or Banking Hubs. The Post Office allows personal and business customers to carry out everyday banking services at 11,500 Post Office branches across the UK, and Banking Hubs are an initiative which enable customers of participating banks to access cash and banking services in shared facilities. Over 100 Banking Hubs have been announced so far, and the Government hopes to see these Hubs open as soon as possible. With the increasing shift in customer behaviour to online and mobile banking, access to digital services is key, which is why my colleagues in the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology are working with Building Digital UK (BDUK) to connect at least 85% of UK premises to gigabit-capable broadband by 2025, and for nationwide connectivity (at least 99%) to be realised by 2030. Over 80% of UK premises can now access gigabit-capable broadband, a huge leap forward from 2019, when coverage was just 6%.

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many claimants have been sanctioned for falsely claiming for (a) R&D expenditure credit and (b) small and medium-sized enterprise R&D tax relief.

Nigel Huddleston: HM Revenue and Customs conducts both civil and criminal investigations into R&D claimants it suspects have made false claims. HM Revenue and Customs does not centrally store data regarding penalties imposed due to falsely claimed R&D. It should be noted that in both civil and criminal operations, R&D (and any related penalty) may be one part of the investigation and form an element of the subsequent penalty and/or sentence.

VAT: Northern Ireland

Ian Paisley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the income to the public purse was for VAT payments from Northern Ireland in each of the last five years, broken down by sector.

Nigel Huddleston: The information requested is not available. HM Revenue and Customs holds data for VAT receipts disaggregated between England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland up to the financial year 2018-2019 but not beyond this date and not on a sector breakdown basis. There are ONS statistics on the VAT that could be attributed to Northern Ireland for later years, but again this cannot be broken down by sector.

Arts: Tax Allowances

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to HMRC's policy paper entitled Clarifications of the rules for cultural tax reliefs, updated on 22 November 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the proposed changes to section 1217FA of the Corporation Tax Act 2009 on (a) immersive and (b) experiential experimental work.

Nigel Huddleston: Provided immersive or experimental productions meet all the qualifying criteria for theatrical productions as set out in Section 1217FA of the Corporation Tax Act 2009, they should be entitled to Theatre Tax Relief.

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that HM Revenue and Customs' definition of a competent professional is applied consistently when assessing research and development tax relief claims.

Nigel Huddleston: A competent professional is someone suitably qualified or experienced in the field. Having worked in a field or having an intelligent interest alone, does not make a person a competent professional. They must have enough knowledge and experience relevant to the qualifying project. The opinion of a competent professional should set out:the depth of the competent professional’s knowledge and experience in the relevant fieldthe current state of relevant knowledge in the fieldwhat the advance in science or technology being sought iswhy what is being sought is an advance in the fieldhow the advance relates to knowledge, capability, or a mixture of the two.HMRC will give due weight to an opinion offered by the company’s competent professional but further enquiry may still be needed, especially where the opinion omits the required information, as set out above.HMRC are committed to adhering to the values set out in the HMRC Charter and have a quality assurance programme to ensure consistency when applying guidance.

Research: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what proportion of (a) Research and Development Expenditure Credit and (b) Research and Development tax relief for small and medium-sized enterprises claims were disallowed in each of the last five years for which figures are available; and what the most common reason was for a claim being disallowed in each of those years.

Nigel Huddleston: HMRC do not publish the proportion of R&D claims disallowed and the reasons for disallowing them. HMRC publish the estimated amount of R&D tax relief claimed and the estimated number of claims. The latest figures for 2021-2022 are published here: Research and Development Tax Credit Statistics September 2023.

Business Rates: Film and Television

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department has made an impact assessment of the Valuation Office Agency's decision to raise business rates on film and TV studios.

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of changes in the level of business rates for film and TV studios on investment in that sector.

Nigel Huddleston: The Government recognises the importance of the film and TV sector to the UK and is committed to maintaining a competitive offer for studios. The Valuation Office Agency is working closely with the film studio sector and its representatives to review valuation evidence through a Group Pre-Challenge Review (GPCR).

Graduates: Taxation

Alan Brown: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8753 on Graduates: Taxation, if he will publish the number of borrowers by Student Loan plan type.

Nigel Huddleston: As at the end of December 2023, the number of student loan borrowers matched to a HMRC record, by Student Loan plan type, are:Plan 1: 2,427,300Plan 2: 3,837,000Plan 4: 502,400Post Graduate Loan: 473,800

Money Lenders: Victims

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps his Department is taking to help support victims of illegal money lenders.

Bim Afolami: The Government recognises the dangers of unauthorised money lenders - more commonly known as loan sharks - and the negative impact that they can have on communities. That is why HM Treasury funds Illegal Money Lending Teams (IMLTs) across the UK via an industry levy collected by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The IMLTs investigate and prosecute illegal money lenders as well as provide support to victims, with over 30,000 people having been helped in the process. The teams also undertake community work, warning of the risks of loan sharks, and support people in accessing legal, affordable credit. HM Treasury took over responsibility for funding the IMLTs in 2017. Since then, the Government has increased funding for the teams by over 50%. In the 2023/24 financial year, the Government is providing over £7.3 million to the teams, equipping them to investigate and prosecute illegal lenders while working to support their victims.

Financial Services: Standards

Claire Hanna: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he has had recent discussions with the FCA on the effectiveness of its consumer duty in upholding standards of financial services for customers.

Bim Afolami: The Government is committed to ensuring the UK has world-leading levels of regulatory operational effectiveness and to ensuring that consumers of financial services have appropriate protections in place. The Consumer Duty aims to ensure that firms act to deliver good outcomes and seeks to set a higher and clearer standard of care that firms owe their customers. Treasury ministers meet regularly with the FCA to discuss a range of topics including the Consumer Duty. With any new policy intervention, it is appropriate to consider how effective it has been in meeting its objectives, once such an assessment can be made. The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 introduced a new requirement on the financial services regulators to keep their rules under review, and to publish a statement of policy for how they conduct rule reviews. The FCA’s rule review framework can be found at https://www.fca.org.uk/publications/corporate-documents/our-rule-review-framework.

Central Bank Digital Currencies

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of a central bank digital currency on (a) national security and (b) digital exclusion.

Bim Afolami: HM Treasury and the Bank of England will conduct a full examination of the benefits and risks of introducing a digital pound, including an assessment of any potential national security and digital exclusion impacts. This assessment will be made before any decision is taken on whether to build and introduce the digital pound, over the coming years.

Department of Health and Social Care

Community Health Services: Waiting Lists

Jo Gideon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if her Department will hold discussions with the (a) Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, (b) Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, (c) Royal College of Occupational Therapists and (d) British Association for Community Child Health on waiting times for community services.

Helen Whately: Addressing waiting lists is a priority for the Department and the National Health Service, and NHS England has asked local systems to develop and agree plans for reducing their community services waiting lists.I am planning to meet with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists, Royal College of Occupational Therapists and British Association for Community Child Health to discuss waiting times for community services.Community Health Service Data is published monthly and can be found here Statistics » Community Health Services Waiting Lists (england.nhs.uk)

Health Services: Children

John McDonnell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of trends in average waiting times to access (a) community paediatric services, (b) occupational therapy and (c) speech and language therapy in the last three years.

Helen Whately: Addressing waiting lists is a priority for the Department and the National Health Service, and NHS England has asked local systems to develop and agree plans for reducing their community services waiting lists.Community Health Service data was first published in October 2022 and is now published monthly. It is available at the following link:https://www.england.nhs.uk/statistics/statistical-work-areas/community-health-services-waiting-lists/

Dementia: Diagnosis

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has plans to invest in diagnostic infrastructure for people with dementia.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Palliative Care

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of NHS staffing levels for the delivery of palliative care services in (a) hospitals, (b) hospices and (c) homes in the community.

Helen Whately: The Government recognises that access to high-quality, palliative and end of life care can make all the difference to individuals and their loved ones. As set out on the Health and Care Act 2022, integrated care boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning palliative and end of life services that meet the needs of their population. In July 2022, NHS England published statutory guidance for commissioners on palliative and end of life care, which sets out the considerations for ICBs to meet their legal duties.In 2023, NHS England published the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan (LTWP). The LTWP sets out the steps the NHS and its partners need to take to deliver an NHS workforce that meets the changing needs of the population over the next 15 years. It will put the workforce on a sustainable footing for the long term. The LTWP aims to grow the number and proportion of NHS staff working in mental health, primary and community care to enable the service ambition to deliver more preventative and proactive care across the NHS. The LTWP sets out an ambition to grow these roles 73% by 2036/37, including plans to increase the community workforce specifically by 3.9% each year.Most hospices are independent, charitable organisations, and are, therefore, responsible for determining their own staffing levels. While the LTWP did not explicitly model demand for health professionals from non-NHS settings, it does assume that the expansion of domestic education and training and improved retention would have a positive impact on healthcare numbers working elsewhere in the health and care system.

Dementia: Screening

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many and what proportion of patients waited more than 15 weeks for an initial dementia assessment in 2023; what is the average waiting time for an initial dementia assessment; and what steps she is taking to improve those waiting times.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally. To improve waiting times, we have set an expectation that everyone who needs an appointment at a general practice should get one within two weeks, with the most urgent patients being seen on the same day.The Dementia Care Pathway: Full implementation guidance, commissioned by NHS England, outlines the dementia care pathway and associated benchmarks to support improvements in the delivery and quality of care and support, for people living with dementia and their families and carers. The guide showcases good-practice examples of services that have successfully reduced their waiting times. More information is available at the following link:https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/nccmh/dementia/nccmh-dementia-care-pathway-full-implementation-guidance.pdf

Electronic Cigarettes

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she last met representatives of the vaping industry.

Andrea Leadsom: The Government and devolved administrations have consulted on plans to create a smokefree generation and tackle youth vaping, and as a part of this, officials meet with different stakeholders. The Secretary of State has not met with representatives of the vaping industry.The consultation closed in December 2023 and we will publish our consultation response in the coming weeks ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Cancer

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of an action plan for the less survivable cancers.

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions she has had with international counterparts on their approach to the less survivable cancers.

Chloe Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she plans to take to tackle less survivable cancers in the Major Conditions Strategy.

Andrew Stephenson: Cancer is being diagnosed at earlier stages, more often, with survival rates improving across almost all types of cancer with the National Health Service seeing and treating record numbers of cancer patients over the last two years.The planned Major Conditions Strategy will look at the early diagnosis and treatment of cancer. The strategy will look at a wide range of interventions and enablers to improve outcomes and experience for a range of cancer patients, including those less survivable cancers. We have already acted upon some of the areas that the 2020 Less Survivable Cancer Taskforce report requested, for example the introduction of targeted lung health checks, trials for cytosponge, and the roll out of non-specific symptom pathways. The report is available at the following link:https://lesssurvivablecancers.org.uk/our-asks/

UK Health Security Agency: Finance

Philip Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much external funding the UK Health Security Agency has received in each year since it was formed; and who provided that funding.

Maria Caulfield: The following table shows the details of the external funding received by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) in 2021/22: 2021/22 (£,000)Sale of Goods and Services Laboratory and other services41,237Products and royalties24,230Education and training959Vaccines income56,525Total sale of goods and services122,951  Other operating income Research and related contracts and grants6,543Grants from the United Kingdom government2,280Grants from the European Union749Rental from investment property212Other operating income9,057Absorption gain-Total other operating income18,841  Finance income Interest receivable272Total finance income272  Income Total142,064 Note: Details of how much external funding UKHSA received in 2022/23 will be published in the UKHSA Annual Report and Accounts 2022/23.

Pancreatic Cancer: Diagnosis

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce the time taken to diagnose pancreatic cancer.

Andrew Stephenson: NHS England is delivering a range of interventions that are expected to increase early diagnosis and improve outcomes for those with pancreatic cancer. This includes providing a route into pancreatic cancer surveillance for those at inherited high-risk to identify lesions before they develop into cancer and diagnose cancers sooner; creating new pathways to support faster referral routes for people with non-specific symptoms that could be linked to a range of cancer types; and increasing direct access for general practitioners to diagnostic tests.NHS England is funding a new audit into pancreatic cancer, the aim of which is to provide regular and timely evidence to cancer service providers of where patterns of care in England may vary, to increase the consistency of access to treatments and to stimulate improvements in cancer treatment and outcomes for patients. The Royal College of Surgeons began work on this audit in October 2022 and a scoping exercise in consultation with key stakeholders has taken place to shape the direction of the audit. The first report is expected in October 2024.In addition, the Getting It Right First Time team in NHS England is undertaking a deep dive into pancreatic cancer, which will highlight actions National Health Service providers need to take to improve services, as well as gathering examples of good practice to share.

Anaesthesia Associates and Physician Associates

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to ensure that patients are aware when they are being treated by (a) an Anaesthesia Associate and (b) other healthcare practitioners without a medical degree.

Andrew Stephenson: National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines set out that all healthcare professionals directly involved in a patient's care should introduce themselves and explain to the patient: who is responsible for their clinical care and treatment; the roles and responsibilities of the different members of the healthcare team; and the communication about their care that takes place between members of the healthcare team.In advance of their regulation by the General Medical Council (GMC) later this year, the GMC has published interim standards for anaesthesia associates (AAs), and also physician associates, which make it clear that professionals should always introduce their role to patients and set out their responsibilities in the team.The Royal College of Anaesthetists, in collaboration with other stakeholders, has developed the guidance, Planning the introduction and training for Anaesthesia Associates, which details the processes and considerations required when introducing AAs into departments.

Primary Health Care: Pharmacy

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she plans to increase services offered by community pharmacies.

Andrea Leadsom: Pharmacies across England, including in Knowsley, can already choose to deliver a wider range of NHS funded services including for example providing advice on newly prescribed medicines for long term conditions, blood pressure checks, oral contraception consultations and minor illness referrals from GPs, NHS111 and Urgent and Emergency Care. Early in 2024 we will expand the NHS funded service offer in community pharmacy and launch Pharmacy First. The service will enable community pharmacists to manage seven common conditions including the supply of prescription-only medicines without a prescription from a GP. The seven conditions are: sinusitis, sore throat, earache, infected insect bite, impetigo, shingles and uncomplicated urinary tract infections in women.

Dental Services

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to publish the recovery plan for NHS dentists; and what interim provision she is making for people unable to obtain NHS dentistry treatment locally.

Andrea Leadsom: Patients in England are not registered with a National Health service dental practice, although many NHS dental practices do tend to see patients regularly. There is no geographical restriction on which practice a patient may attend, allowing patients the choice of where they would like to receive a course of treatment.Patients unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance. NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles at least every 90 days, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care.We are working on our Dentistry Recovery Plan, to be published shortly, which will address how we can significantly improve access, particularly for new patients; and how we make NHS work more attractive to ensure NHS dentists are incentivised to deliver NHS care.

Drugs: Misuse

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help local authorities tackle substance misuse.

Andrea Leadsom: As part of the Government’s 10-year drug strategy, local authorities are receiving £532 million of additional investment through to 2024/25 to improve drug and alcohol treatment and recovery services. This funding is in addition to the Public Health Grant. The Department is actively supporting local authorities to develop and implement their local plans for drug and alcohol treatment and are monitoring outcomes through the national outcomes framework. This support includes the Commissioning Quality Standard, published in August 2022, which provides guidance for commissioning effective alcohol and drug treatment and recovery services. The Department also published guidance on Recovery support services and lived experience initiatives to support regions to develop and improve recovery-orientated systems of care, to help people to achieve and sustain recovery. The guidance is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/recovery-support-services-and-lived-experience-initiatives

Earwax: Medical Treatments

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of the availability of NHS ear syringing treatment in the West Midlands.

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps she has taken to improve equality of access to NHS ear wax removal services.

Andrea Leadsom: The National Health Service will often recommend home treatment remedies to alleviate ear wax build-up. Manual ear syringing is no longer advised by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) due to risks associated with it, such as trauma to their ear drum or infection.However, in line with NICE guidance, a person may require ear wax removal treatment if the build-up of earwax is linked with hearing loss. A general practice could then consider referring the patient into audiology services. Integrated Care Boards (ICBs) are responsible for commissioning healthcare services that meet the needs of their local populations – including for audiology and ear wax removal services.ICBs should therefore arrange for the provision of ear wax removal services for when a patient has a clinical need for ear wax removal beyond home treatments.The NICE published guidelines last year on hearing loss – and specifically on ear wax removal treatment, at the following link:https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng98/chapter/Recommendations#removing-earwax

Dental Health: Children

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help prevent tooth decay in children.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to promote child dental health.

Andrea Leadsom: Tooth decay can be almost entirely prevented by reducing the amount and frequency of the consumption of sugar in food and drink and providing adequate exposure to fluoride. In England, local authorities have a statutory duty to assess needs, develop oral health strategies and commission the appropriate oral health improvement programmes. We have published evidence-based toolkits for local service commissioners, which are available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/improving-oral-health-supervised-tooth-brushing-programme-toolkitWe intend to go further with prevention measures for babies and children and will publish a Dentistry Recovery Plan shortly.

Pharmacy: Weather

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential implications for her Department's policies of trends in the level of demand for pharmacy services during winter 2023-24.

Andrea Leadsom: Every year in winter, demand for services in the National Health Service increases and community pharmacies are playing a growing role in supporting the NHS to meet this demand. Pharmacies in England already deliver a wider range of NHS services including advice on newly prescribed medicines for long-term conditions, blood pressure checks, oral contraception consultations and minor illness referrals from general practitioners (GPs), NHS 111 and urgent and emergency care. We are investing in community pharmacy to enable them to support more patients in winter by launching Pharmacy First this year. Pharmacy First will enable community pharmacists to manage seven common conditions including the supply of prescription-only medicines without referring them on to a GP for a prescription

Electronic Cigarettes

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce the prevalence of vaping among people who have never smoked tobacco.

Andrea Leadsom: Vaping is rightly used by adults as a tool to quit smoking, but the health advice is clear that if you do not smoke, do not vape, and children should never vape.On 12 October 2023, we launched a public consultation, seeking views on creating the first smokefree generation, our plans to crack down on youth vaping by reducing the appeal, availability and affordability of vapes to our children, and options to ensure the law is enforced. The consultation closed on 6 December 2023, and we will respond in the coming weeks ahead of the introduction of the Tobacco and Vapes Bill.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate she has made of the number of NHS trusts in (a) London and (b) England that offer MRI scans for the detection of lobular breast cancer.

Andrew Stephenson: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s current recommendation is to offer magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the breast to people with invasive breast cancer, to assess tumour size if breast-conserving surgery is being considered for invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC).To improve detection of breast cancers including ILBC, the National Institute for Health and Care Research is currently funding a £1.3 million research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast MRI can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography.

Electronic Cigarettes: Health Hazards

Kirsten Oswald: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to support research into the potential impact of vaping on health.

Andrea Leadsom: The best thing a smoker can do for their health is to quit smoking. As shown in the recently published Nicotine Vaping in England Report there is evidence that vapes are less harmful to health than smoking.The Office for Health Improvement and Disparities (OHID), previously Public Health England, has published detailed evidence updates on vapes/e-cigarettes. These reviews report on the safety, effectiveness and impact of vapes since 2014. The last report is available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1107701/Nicotine-vaping-in-England-2022-report.pdfOHID will continue to closely monitor the evidence base of research on vapes, including their long-term impact on health and health behaviours.

HIV Infection: Diagnosis

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Towards Zero - An action plan towards ending HIV transmission, AIDS and HIV-related deaths in England - 2022 to 2025, updated on 21 December 2021, what recent progress has been made on (a) reviewing existing late diagnosis protocols and (b) strengthening the protocols prior to a national roll out.

Andrea Leadsom: A late HIV diagnoses steering group will be held in the second quarter of 2024 to review and agree the content of the protocol. Software is also under development to enable information to be captured.

HIV Infection: Screening

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent progress her Department has made on identifying the key reasons why people (a) may not be offered and (b) decline the offer of a HIV test in sexual health clinics.

Andrea Leadsom: Further work is being undertaken by the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to explore reasons why people may not be offered or decline the offer of an HIV test in Sexual Health clinics. UKHSA will provide a descriptive analysis of predictors in the third quarter of 2024.

HIV Infection: Disease Control

Steve Brine: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on understanding the circumstances surrounding HIV acquisitions in 2023.

Andrea Leadsom: Further analyses around HIV acquisitions will be undertaken to ensure the circumstances reflect a wide range of people living with HIV. This will be published in the third quarter of 2024.

Department of Health and Social Care: Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) schemes and (b) grants their Department administers that are open for (i) individuals, (ii) organisations and (iii) other groups in Feltham and Heston constituency to apply for as of 10 January 2024.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department does not currently have any live grant schemes which can be applied for. There is an online service provided by the Cabinet Office which allows individuals and organisations to search for government grants to find out if they are eligible to apply for a grant and how they can apply. This service is available at the following link:https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/

Multiple Sclerosis

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help support people diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Andrew Stephenson: To support the provision of optimal support for people with multiple sclerosis (MS) and other neurological conditions, NHS England has established the Neuroscience Transformation Programme, a multi-year, clinically led programme aimed at improving specialised adult neuroscience services in England and developing a new model of integrated care for neurology services.The Neuroscience Transformation Programme seeks to support emerging regional teams in addition to Integrated Care Systems in the National Health Service, through establishing a ‘what good looks like’ for specialised neuroscience services for a local population. NHS England has also established the Getting It Right First Time (GIRFT) national programme, which is designed to improve the treatment and care of patients through in-depth, clinically led review of specialties to examine how things are currently being done and how they could be improved.The GIRFT National Specialty Report on Neurology, published in September 2021, focuses on improving access to care and ensuring services are available close to patients’ homes where feasible. The report highlights differences in how services are delivered and highlights examples of local good practice to improve patient services nationally.NHS systems should also continue to implement the guidance set out in the Progressive Neurological Conditions RightCare Toolkit, which was developed in collaboration with key stakeholders such as the MS Trust and the MS Society. The Toolkit supports improvements to pathways for progressive neurological patients, ensuring that commissioners focus on quicker and more accurate diagnoses and increasing the availability of neurorehabilitation, reablement, and psychosocial support.

Breast Cancer: Diagnosis

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of diagnosis rates for lobular breast cancer.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department has not made a specific assessment as invasive lobular breast cancer (ILBC) can be difficult to detect through screening. ILBC is harder to diagnose than most other breast cancer types, with mammograms less effective at detecting it, particularly in women with dense breast tissue. Therefore ILBC is often diagnosed later than other breast cancer types. Research is showing how screening for and diagnosing ILBC can be improved to detect disease earlier and more consistently than current rates, with potential to develop more targeted treatments. To further improve the detection of breast cancers including ILBC, the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) is currently funding a £1.3 million research project to determine whether an abbreviated form of breast magnetic resonance imaging can detect breast cancers missed by screening mammography.  The Department continues to work closely with research funding partners such as Cancer Research UK, the Medical Research Council, and cancer charities who fund research into new scientific discoveries including ILBC.

Paediatrics: Waiting Lists

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of pediatric waiting times.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department and the National Health Service are committed to ensuring that babies, children, and young people are prioritised in integrated care systems and that reforms in the Health and Care Act 2022 aiming to improve child health and wellbeing outcomes are delivered on the ground.NHS England has established a National Children and Young People Elective Recovery Delivery Group, bringing together the national Elective Recovery Programme, the Children and Young People’s Transformation Programme and other stakeholders. This group aims to accelerate progress and ensure the recovery of paediatric services keeps pace with recovery of adult elective care.We are making good progress bringing down all waits, including those for children.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has made a recent assessment of the potential merits of introducing risk assessments using (a) breast density assessment software and (b) other tools during initial breast cancer screening appointments.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is aware of the growing interest in issues related to screening women with dense breast tissue in the National Health Service breast screening programme. In 2019, the UK NSC reviewed the benefit of additional screening with ultrasound after a negative mammography screening, for women with dense breasts. The Committee concluded that there was insufficient evidence to recommend additional screening at that time.We are aware of the Breast Screening Risk Adaptive Imaging for Density trial which is investigating the use of supplementary imaging techniques for women within the standard breast screening programme who are found to have radiographically dense breast tissue. The UK NSC will review this evidence when it becomes available.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Sarah Dyke: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the potential merits of allowing children to be issued medical cannabis prescriptions on the NHS.

Andrew Stephenson: Licensed cannabis-based medicines, that have been proved effective in clinical trials and judged cost-effective by the National Institute of Health and Care Excellence (NICE), are routinely available on the National Health Service, including for people aged over two years old with certain types of epilepsy. However, clinical guidelines from NICE demonstrate a clear need for more evidence to support routine prescribing and funding decisions for unlicensed cannabis-based medicines.We continue to call on manufacturers to conduct research to prove if their products are safe and effective and we are working with regulatory, research and NHS partners to establish clinical trials to test the safety and efficacy of these products.

Diseases: Health Services

Holly Mumby-Croft: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress her Department has made on the publication of the final Major Conditions Strategy.

Andrew Stephenson: Following publication of our initial report, Major Conditions Strategy: Case for change and our strategic framework, in August 2023, we have continued to develop the strategy, informed by the call for evidence and ongoing engagement. Our intention is to publish the Major Conditions Strategy early this year.

Liver Diseases: Screening

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to reduce geographic variations in the provision of non-invasive liver scans in community diagnostic centres.

Andrew Stephenson: FibroScan capacity is being increased across England via the Community Diagnostics Centre (CDC) programme, backed as part of a £2.3 billion investment in diagnostic transformation. The National Health Service currently plans for 11 sites to be live with FibroScans by the end of this financial year, with seven presently live with the test. By March 2025 we expect there to be 15 CDCs offering FibroScans.The CDC test offer is based on the recommendations in the Sir Mike Richards Review, and decisions on what modalities are offered outside of the core requirements of CDCs, including FibroScans, will be based on local need as well as local funding decisions and considerations.Through the £2.3 billion diagnostics transformation programme, NHS England is ensuring that laboratories across the country have the digital capability required to offer Intelligent Liver Function Tests.The NHS is also delivering and considering the result from the pilot of the community liver health check programme, which is due to deliver 22,000 FibroScans per year to communities at particular risk of liver disease. From June 2022 to September 2023, over 26,500 FibroScans were delivered through the pilots, and 8% of people scanned have already been enrolled into liver surveillance programmes. The programme is being delivered across 19 areas by Hepatitis C Operational Delivery Networks to FibroScan patients at high risk of cirrhosis or advanced fibrosis, utilising 40 FibroScan machines.NHS England is reviewing existing liver diagnosis pathways as part of its wider diagnostic transformation work, to determine what the best approach should be to identify patients at an earlier stage of liver disease, through a liver pathway starting in primary care and involving pathology labs and CDCs. This will include a combination of blood tests and FibroScans.

Cancer: Screening

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when her Department plans to adopt (a) 3D Mammography and (b) other new cancer screening technologies.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) is aware of research into the use of three-dimensional (3D) mammography and the growing interest to use artificial intelligence (AI) in the National Health Service breast screening programme. Guidance has been published on GOV.UK on the use of Tomosynthesis 3D imaging in a clinical trial setting as part of the NHS breast screening programme. The UK NSC had also worked with Health Technology Assessments to design an evaluation of existing AI in a prospective study to look at whether it could be used to read breast screening mammograms. There are currently no plans to adopt these technologies, but evidence to inform a UK NSC decision on the use of 3D mammography and AI in the NHS breast screening programme will be reviewed by the Committee when available.

Cervical Cancer: Screening

Taiwo Owatemi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to help increase the (a) accessibility of smear tests for working women and (b) coverage of cervical cancer screening in Coventry North West constituency; how many smear tests were provided by the NHS in Coventry North West constituency in each year since 2015; and what steps she is taking to help improve cancer survival rates.

Andrew Stephenson: Efforts are ongoing to make it easier for all women to attend their cervical screening appointments by expanding the number of settings for cervical screening and making more appointments available during evenings and on weekends. The following table shows the number of eligible women who have attended their cervical screening appointment in Coventry in each year since 2015: Screening yearCoverage: 25 to 49 years old (%)Coverage: 50 to 64 years old (%)Coverage: 25 to 64 years old (%)2014/1568.879.271.72015/1667.378.670.52016/1767.077.870.12017/1865.676.768.72018/1965.776.168.72019/2065.174.967.92020/2163.273.966.32021/2260.573.164.12022/2357.172.561.4 Source: Cervical Screening Programme official statistics, NHS England

Psoriasis: Medical Treatments

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether her Department has taken recent steps to provide new medications for treating psoriasis on the NHS.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government wants all National Health Service patients to benefit from timely access to safe and effective new medicines in a way that represents value to the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) develops evidence-based guidance for the NHS on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE appraises all newly licensed medicines and aims to publish draft guidance around the time of licensing wherever possible. The NHS is legally required to fund medicines recommended by NICE, usually within three months of final guidance. Since 2019, NICE has recommended several medicines for the treatment of patients with psoriasis meeting specified clinical criteria, including risankizumab, bimekizumab, tildrakizumab and deucravacitinib. The NHS is now legally required to routinely fund these treatments for eligible NHS patients in line with NICE’s recommendations.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what data her Department holds on the number of children that have been waiting for medical procedures from the North West London Integrated Care Board for longer than (a) 126 and (b) 365 days.

Andrew Stephenson: The data is not held in the format requested, as published waiting list data by age of patient is not held at integrated care board level.

Lisdexamfetamine: Shortages

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what her most recent estimate is of the number of children aged under 16 who are prescribed Elvanse but do not have access to it due to the shortage.

Andrew Stephenson: Disruptions to the supply of medicines used for the management of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, including Elvanse, have been primarily driven by issues which have resulted in capacity constraints at key manufacturing sites. The Department has been working closely with the manufacturer and some issues have now been resolved. However, we know that there continue to be disruptions to the supply of some Elvanse products, which should resolve by April 2024.The information requested is not held centrally. However, the following table shows the total number of items prescribed to children aged under 16 years old for chemical substance Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate and includes both generic and branded prescribing of Elvanse:Time PeriodBNF Chemical SubstanceItemsIdentified Patient CountDecember 2022 to November 2023Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate80,80613,351November 2023Lisdexamfetamine dimesylate4,6403,679Source: NHS Business Services AuthorityNotes:The data does not show the number of children aged under 16 who are prescribed Elvanse but do not have access to it.The figures show the latest 12 months of data held in the period between December 2022 and November 2023 and for the standalone month of November 2023 as a comparison for prescriptions that have been prescribed in England and dispensed in the community in England.

Midwives: Flexible Working

Siobhan Baillie: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the adequacy of the availability of flexible working arrangements for midwives.

Maria Caulfield: ‘We work flexibly’ is one of the elements contained in the NHS People Promise with a commitment to deliver for staff, including midwives by 2024/25.NHS England has created and shared flexible working arrangement resources and delivered bespoke webinars and workshops on the issue. They have also brought together midwifery leaders from across the system to share good practice, foster collaboration and support the implementation of flexible working across maternity services.In September 2021, contractual changes took effect for employees covered by the NHS Terms & Conditions of Service Handbook which includes the right to request flexible working from day one without the need to provide a justification.However, no assessment of the adequacy of the availability of flexible working arrangements specifically for midwives has been made.

Health Professions: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of availability of clinicians to supervise (a) medical students and (b) newly qualified healthcare staff.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department takes to help ensure that clinical supervisers of (a) medical students and (b) newly qualified healthcare staff hold the relevant competencies to train those people.

Andrew Stephenson: As set out in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, we recognise that clinical academics are crucial to training future generations of healthcare professionals, by leading on research and delivering much of the teaching of students. As the number of training places increases across professions, more clinical academic posts will be needed.Health Education England, now part of NHS England, published a new Educator Workforce Strategy in March 2023 setting out the actions that will lead to sufficient capacity and quality of educators to allow the growth in the healthcare workforce needed now and in the future. This includes planning for educator career pathways practice and across sectors and professions. Recognising educators and their value, and detailing initiatives to support them, will raise the profile of this essential workforce, and help to expand the educator pool.

Glioblastoma

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve (a) diagnosis and (b) outcomes for people with glioblastomas.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government is committed to improving the survival rates for all cancers. The Department and NHS England are working on implementing interventions to diagnose cancer early. When cancer is diagnosed early, there are often more curative treatment options, and this is associated with better survival.The Government is working jointly with NHS England on implementing the delivery plan for tackling the COVID-19 backlogs in elective care and plans to spend more than £8 billion from 2022/23 to 2024/25 to help drive up and protect elective activity, including cancer diagnosis and treatment activity.To find and diagnose all cancers earlier, NHS England is streamlining cancer pathways to support diagnosis within 28 days. This is supported by the roll-out of 150 community diagnostic centres so far to increase capacity for diagnostic tests, with capacity prioritised for cancer diagnostics.In May 2018, the Government announced £40 million of funding for brain tumour research as part of the Tessa Jowell Brain Cancer Mission through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). This includes research into glioblastoma. NIHR has funded four projects into glioblastoma research since financial year 2018, with a combined total funding value of £2.7 million.

Medical Treatments: Innovation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve the (a) adoption and (b) spread of medical technologies across the NHS.

Andrew Stephenson: In February 2023, the Government published its first ever strategy for MedTech, outlining our priorities for improving the adoption and spread of safe, effective and innovative medical technologies across the National Health Service.As part of this effort, we are implementing solutions to streamline the innovation adoption pathway. We are focusing on clarifying signals to industry on what innovation the NHS needs, reforming regulation, providing product assessments based on real world evidence, and improving procurement processes.We recently launched the Innovative Devices Access Pathway pilot in September 2023. The pilot will test a pre-regulatory, access pathway for eight pilot technologies that meet a clinical unmet need in the NHS. This accelerated pathway will support the adoption of transformative technologies into the NHS and to patients.The Government is investing £30 million in the Health Tech Adoption and Acceleration Fund. Funding has been disseminated to all 42 integrated care systems to invest in proven technology that will help cut waiting lists, speed up diagnosis and deliver new and improved ways to treat patients.The Department has partnered with the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to develop and pilot a process for evaluations that compare similar MedTech products in use across the NHS. These evaluations will improve NHS decision makers ability to identify which products offer value for money and are worth adopting more widely.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is updating the medical device regulatory framework. The new framework is designed to protect patient safety, support innovation within the United Kingdom’s life sciences sector and improve access to innovative medical devices.

Alzheimer's Disease: Drugs

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Chief Executive of NHS England and (b) NICE on regulatory approval of (i) Lecanemab, (ii) Donanemab and (iii) other medicines that could be used to manage the progression of Alzheimer’s disease.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department is working closely together with the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, NHS England, the devolved administrations, and the Dementia Mission to plan for the implementation of new dementia medicines, should they gain approval in the United Kingdom.NHS England also has a programme of work overseeing national preparedness work ahead of regulatory decisions being made about the introduction of potential new disease modifying treatments for early Alzheimer’s disease. This includes partnering with other national agencies, proactively engaging with other key partners including patient groups, identifying opportunities for information sharing and collaboration, and supporting integrated care boards as they plan for local implementation.

Prostate Cancer: Screening

Nick Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of implementing a national screening programme for prostate cancer.

Andrew Stephenson: Screening for prostate cancer is currently not recommended in the United Kingdom. This is because of the inaccuracy of the current best test, PSA.The Government recently announced its intention to undertake a ground-breaking prostate cancer screening trial in the UK, using a combination of PSA testing and magnetic resonance imaging, to look for prostate cancer in men that otherwise do not have any symptoms. Supported by £16 million of funding from the Government, Prostate Cancer UK's £42 million trial could help us find a way of catching prostate cancer in men as early as possible before the cancer spreads and could save thousands of lives. The UK National Screening Committee will review the findings when the research is completed.

Leukaemia: Health Services

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent steps she has taken to help ensure that chronic lymphocytic leukaemia patients on active monitoring have the support they need for their (a) mental and (b) physical well-being.

Andrew Stephenson: The NHS Long Term Plan states that, where appropriate, every person diagnosed with cancer will have access to personalised care, including needs assessment, a care plan and health and wellbeing information and support. This includes provision of end of treatment summaries, empowering people to manage their care and the impact of their cancer.NHS England is supporting adults experiencing cancer with access to NHS Talking Therapies mental health services, formerly known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies, which provide evidence-based psychological therapies for people with anxiety disorders and depression.In 2022/23, Cancer Alliances mapped out locally driven improvements in psychosocial support provision, which is work that will continue in 2023/24.

NHS Learning Support Fund: Pharmacy

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of allowing pharmacy students to access the NHS Learning Support Fund.

Andrew Stephenson: The Government keeps the funding arrangements for all healthcare students under close review. At all times the Government must strike a balance between the level of support students receive and the need to make best use of public funds to deliver value for money. There are no immediate plans to make changes to the scheme design.

Members: Correspondence

John Penrose: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when she plans to respond to the letters of 10 November and 13 December 2023 from the hon. Member for Weston-super-Mare sent on behalf of a constituent on liver scans.

Andrew Stephenson: I replied to the hon. Member on 18 January 2024.

Medical Equipment: Regulation

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to improve the regulatory environment for medical devices and technology.

Andrew Stephenson: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is progressing reforms to the Medical Devices Regulations 2002. These are outlined in the Government response to the consultation on the future regulation of medical devices in the United Kingdom published in June 2022.On 9 January, the MHRA published a roadmap, which sets out a clear path for the development of new and robust regulations for medical devices over 2024 and 2025. The new regulations will put patient safety first, whilst enhancing the United Kingdom’s position as a world-leading environment for medical technology innovators.In September 2023, the Department, in partnership with the MHRA, the National Institute of Care Excellence, NHS England, Health Technology Wales and Scottish Health Technology Group, launched the Innovative Devices Access Pathway pilot. The pilot provides an accelerated pathway for innovative technologies that meet an unmet need in the National Health Service, including regulatory and support to streamline their adoption into the NHS.

Hospitals: Parking Offences

Debbie Abrahams: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an estimate of how many NHS clinical staff were issued with parking penalty notices by NHS hospitals in the last year.

Andrew Stephenson: The information requested is not collected centrally. National Health Service trusts decide locally on their strategy for car parking based on their needs and the local environment. This will include when it is appropriate to issue parking penalty notices.The Government has delivered on its commitment to ensure that free hospital car parking is provided for those with greatest need, which includes NHS staff working overnight. All NHS trusts that charge for car parking have implemented this policy.

Physician Associates

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what roles former physician associates have most frequently moved into in the last five years.

Andrew Stephenson: The Department does not hold the information requested.

Prescription Drugs: Internet

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her Department is taking to help prevent the online sale of prescription drugs without a prescription.

Andrew Stephenson: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is the regulator in the United Kingdom for human medicines and is responsible for enforcing the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The MHRA has identified the illegal sale and supply of human medicines as a global challenge. This includes the sale of prescription drugs from unregulated sources. Criminal gangs, often based overseas, advertise medicines through illicit websites resembling those of legitimate pharmacies, while others exploit online marketplaces or sell social media platforms.The MHRA has a dedicated Criminal Enforcement Unit (CEU) that works with partners across government and policing to prevent and disrupt this illegal trade and to bring to justice those involved. The CEU monitors online channels for evidence of illegal activity and takes proportionate regulatory action. This includes using the full range of the Agency’s powers to investigate and prosecute offenders where necessary and appropriate. The unit also works to remove illegally trading websites and remove criminal profits from offenders. Through its #Fakemeds communications campaign, the MHRA also provides quick and easy tools to help the public avoid buying illegally traded medicines when they shop online.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the potential merits of lowering the breast cancer screening age to 40.

Andrew Stephenson: The UK National Screening Committee (UK NSC) currently recommends that all women aged from 50 years old up to their 71st birthday are invited for breast every three years, which are the parameters used for the national breast screening programme in England. There are circumstances where some women are offered screening more regularly, or outside this age bracket, for example those known to be at very high risk of breast cancer.A research trial, AgeX, has been looking at the effectiveness of offering some women one extra screen between the ages of 47 and 49, and one between the ages of 71 and 73. The UK NSC will review the results of this trial as soon as they are available.

Social Prescribing

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she has made an assessment of the effectiveness of social prescribing; and whether her Department issues guidance on which models provide the most effective treatment.

Andrea Leadsom: As a relatively new programme, the evidence base around nationally linked social prescribing is still evolving and robust quantitative evidence is limited. However, a growing body of work is suggestive of positive effects. The Department continues to work to understand the effectiveness of social prescribing to enhance physical and mental health and wellbeing, building on existing positive local evidence. The Department of Health and Social Care works on the Green Social Prescribing programme established with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to increase the use and connection to the natural environment to tackle mental ill health. The Department of Health and Social Care funds the evaluation and research element including research studies into angling and outdoor swimming.The Department funds via grant the National Academy for Social Prescribing (NASP). Their role is to support and promote social prescribing at a local and national level and develop the evidence base. A range of research into the effectiveness of social prescribing published by NASP is available at the following link:https://socialprescribingacademy.org.uk/read-the-evidence/

Healthy Start Scheme

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment she has made of the ability of low-income families to access the NHS Healthy Start scheme.

Andrea Leadsom: The Healthy Start scheme helps to encourage a healthy diet for pregnant women, babies and young children under four from low-income households who are in receipt of qualifying benefits. In December 2023, uptake for the Healthy Start scheme was 73%.Systems are in place to help eligible families apply for and access the scheme. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) is committed to increasing uptake of the Healthy Start scheme as much as possible to ensure all children have a healthy start in life. NHSBSA actively promotes the Healthy Start scheme through its digital channels and has created free tools to help stakeholders promote the scheme. There is an online application process, allowing for quick outcomes to applications, as well as a helpline to assist with the application process or general questions.The eligibility criteria for the Healthy Start scheme are kept under continuous review.

Diphtheria

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether she is taking steps to monitor levels of diptheria; and whether she has had discussions with Cabinet colleagues on testing people arriving in the UK for diptheria.

Maria Caulfield: Diphtheria is a notifiable disease in the United Kingdom and so there is a requirement for clinicians to report cases on clinical suspicion of infection and the incidence of infection is monitored. Epidemiological data is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/diphtheria-in-england-and-wales-annual-reports/diphtheria-in-england-2022

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Question

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to help ensure that local communities can participate in decisions on what is built in their neighbourhood.

Lee Rowley: Our reforms to planning put local communities – and local plans – at the heart of decision making. The Government recognises the time and commitment communities put into their neighbourhood plans. Our recent updates to the National Planning Policy Framework mean that neighbourhood plans that meet their identified housing requirement are now better protected from speculative development.

Refuges: City of Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what (a) financial and (b) other support his Department is providing to women's refuges in City of Durham constituency.

Felicity Buchan: The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has provided £3,531,383 since 2021/22 to County Durham and have committed a further £1,216,337 for 2024/25. This funding is for County Durham to commission support for victims of domestic abuse who are residing in refuges and other types of domestic abuse safe accommodation locally.Statutory Guidance and Regulations provide further details to local authorities on how the duties should be delivered on the ground. The Department continues to work closely with the Domestic Abuse Commissioner, the domestic abuse sector and the LGA in supporting local authorities, including best practice workshops.

Homelessness: Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department is taking steps to financially support community and voluntary organisations that support homeless people in City of Durham constituency.

Felicity Buchan: The Government recognises that local authorities are best placed to make decisions on what services they provide and what community and voluntary organisations they commission, based on local priorities and circumstances. We are investing over £2 billion over three years in tackling homelessness and rough sleeping. Funding through the Rough Sleeping Initiative 2022-25 provides local areas and their community and voluntary partners with resources to offer accommodation, support, and a route off the streets for people sleeping rough; the City of Durham has been allocated £680,591.

Refugees: Homelessness

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he plans to take to help (a) Afghan and (b) Ukrainian refugees avoid homelessness in winter 2023-24.

Felicity Buchan: The Government has welcomed nearly 200,000 Ukrainians through the Homes for Ukraine scheme and has provided £1.1 billion to councils through a tariff for each arrival in their area to support guests and sponsors. As set out previously, this funding was specifically designed to include support for LAs in the event that some sponsorships broke down. Most guests have, however, not needed to reply on homelessness support services. This year councils across the UK have been allocated £150 million to help prevent homelessness for Ukrainian households and others at risk of homelessness, with an additional £120 million available next year.The vast majority of Afghans who were in bridging hotels have been supported to move into settled accommodation. We have provided a £35 million package for local authorities to increase support available to Afghans and help overcome the specific barriers in accessing the housing system, including £7,100 per person in flexible housing fund to help households into settled accommodation. There is also £9,150 per household available to local authorities for homelessness costs, and up to 6 months wraparound funding of £28 per person per day for those in temporary accommodation.At Autumn Statement we announced £450 million for a third round of the Local Authority Housing Fund which follows the first two rounds of £750 million.

Local Government Finance

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department’s call for views on new local authority capital flexibilities, published on 19 December 2023, if he will publish a list of investment properties valued at an estimated £23.2 billion.

Florence Eshalomi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to his Department’s call for views on new local authority capital flexibilities published on 19 December 2023, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of the listed options in that publication on sales of local authority assets that are not classified under IAS 40.

Simon Hoare: The Government does not collect data on individual local authority assets, including investment assets. Details of these assets should be held locally by councils.

Building Safety Fund: Newham

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what the status is of the Building Safety Fund application made by Gallions Approach Limited for Drift Court, reference London_1595.

Sir Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact a change of directors at Gallions Approach Limited will have on its Building Safety Fund application for Drift Court, reference London_1595.

Lee Rowley: The application to the Building Safety Fund for Drift Court, Beckton, Newham has been assessed as eligible for funding and a grant funding agreement was completed on 12 January 2023. Work to remediate unsafe cladding on the building has commenced and is expected to complete in July 2024.A change of directors at Gallions Approach Limited will not affect the application to the Building Safety Fund as the grant funding agreement remains legally extant.We recommend any new directors of an organisation that has applied to the Building Safety Fund seek to familiarise themselves with their application, in recognition of their legal duty, as directors of the Responsible Entity, to make their building safe.

Teesworks Joint Venture Independent Review

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answers of 15 January 2024 to Questions 8744, 8995 and 8996 on Teesworks Joint Venture Independent Review, on what evidential basis the Minister said that very serious allegations of illegality had been made by the hon. Member for Middlesborough.

Andy McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answers of 15 January 2024 to Questions 8744, 8995 and 8996 on Teesworks Joint Venture Independent Review, whether he received a request from the Mayor of Tees Valley to establish an assurance review.

Simon Hoare: On 20 April 2023, the Hon Member for Middlesbrough asked in Parliament about Government plans for “a full investigation” of what he described as “industrial-scale corruption” in Teesside (Official Report, HC, Volume 731, Column 384). A link to the full debate is available here. Industrial-scale corruption would be considered by the Government to be very serious illegality. The Department’s exchange of letters with the Mayor of Tees Valley has been published online and is available here.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Expenditure

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the Autumn Statement 2023, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of a freeze on his Department's expenditure on the (a) provision of council services, (b) level council tax collected and (c) likelihood of section 114 notices being issued.

Simon Hoare: The Government published the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement for 2024-25 on 18 December. It makes available up to £64.1 billion to local authorities in England. This is an increase in Core Spending Power of up to £3.9 billion or 6.5% in cash terms on 2023-24.We are considering responses to a consultation on the Provisional Settlement, ahead of publishing the Final Settlement, which we will do very shortly. Once published, this will be subject to debate and the approval of the House.Provision of local services, the level of council tax, and the issuing of s114 notices are all, ultimately, local matters for local authorities to decide for themselves. However, we stand ready to speak to any council that has concerns about its ability to manage its finances or faces pressures for which it has not planned.

Parks: Environment Protection

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what his Department's timescales are for (a) publishing the tender documents for the licenses for the Green Flag awards and (b) awarding those licenses.

Jacob Young: The Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities owned Green Flag Awards Scheme, currently operated under licence by Keep Britain Tidy, sets the national standard for public green spaces and encourages local authorities and other public landowners to ensure parks and green spaces are welcoming, safe, well-maintained and promote biodiversity and community participation.We will provide further updates about the licensing scheme shortly.

Tenants: Deposits

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent (a) discussions he has had and (b) correspondence he has exchanged with the Deposit Protection Service on the decision to pay 0.78% interest on tenants' deposits held on account.

Jacob Young: Mandatory tenancy deposit protection for deposits taken in connection with assured shorthold tenancies is provided by three independent companies authorised to operate under concession contract of the department. These companies protect deposits and provide free dispute resolution services.The Secretary of State has not had any discussions or had any correspondence with the Deposit Protection Service regarding their recent decision to pay interest on tenants' deposits held on account however the decision to pay interest is welcome.

Parking: Private Sector

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, whether his Department plans to publish the responses to the private parking code of practice call for evidence.

Jacob Young: As part of our forthcoming consultation, we will publish our regulatory Impact Assessment. This document has drawn upon relevant data received from the Call for Evidence submissions, as well as evidence from other sources.

Veterans: Homelessness

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what recent discussions he has had with the Cabinet Office on the number of veterans made homeless in the last 12 months.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps he is taking to improve the availability of high-quality affordable housing for veterans.

Felicity Buchan: My department has regular discussions with the Cabinet Office on veteran homelessness. The Government is providing £33 million over the next 3 years to increase the service provided to veterans, which includes £20 million for the Veteran Housing Capital Fund that will be used to modernise, rebuild and expand our veteran housing network. This is in addition to £8.55 million funding announced in December 2022 for more than 900 veteran supported housing units with specialist help for former armed forces personnel.To improve access to affordable housing, we changed the law so that veterans with urgent housing needs are always given ‘additional preference’ (high priority) for social housing and that those who left the forces within the preceding 5 years cannot be disqualified from social housing because of a local connection or residency requirement.We also published dedicated statutory social housing allocations guidance which sets out how local authorities can support veterans and their families to access social housing.Veterans have priority for government-funded shared ownership schemes for up to 24 months after leaving the service and are also exempt from any local connection testing restrictions required to be eligible for First Homes, a scheme that gives local first-time buyers a discount of at least 30% on a new home.

Ministry of Defence

Trident Submarines: Procurement

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent estimate he has made of the total lifetime cost of the Trident renewal programme.

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the impact of recent trends in inflation rates on (a) the total lifetime cost of and (b) expenditure over the next five financial years on the Trident renewal programme.

James Cartlidge: The Dreadnought submarine programme remains within overall budget and on track for the first of class, HMS Dreadnought, to enter service in the early 2030s. Inflation has remained higher than expected for an extended period and had an adverse impact on the cost forecasts for this programme when compared to the forecasts from a year earlier. As the programme is in its preliminary phases, it is too early to provide cost estimates for the replacement warhead programme.

Guided Weapons: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the projected full operating capability date is for the maritime variant of the Future Cruise/Anti-Ship Weapon.

James Cartlidge: We do not disclose information or comment on missile testing. To do so could prejudice the capability, effectiveness, or security of the Armed Forces.

AUKUS

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on electronic warfare capabilities in the AUKUS partnership.

James Cartlidge: AUKUS partners continue to work to develop new tools, techniques, and technology to enable our armed forces to operate in contested and degraded environments. The first trilateral AUKUS Innovation Prize Challenge, a challenge-based competition for innovators in partner nations, will focus on electronic warfare.

AUKUS

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on (a) hypersonic and (b) counter-hypersonic capabilities in the AUKUS partnership.

James Cartlidge: AUKUS partners continue to progress the exchanging of information and technical data, to accelerate the development of advanced hypersonic and counter-hypersonic capabilities. We are making progress fostering deeper integration of security- and defence-related science and technology.

AUKUS

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on undersea capabilities in the AUKUS partnership.

James Cartlidge: We are making good progress on developing undersea capabilities, particularly, on autonomous underwater vehicles, including the integration of our ability to launch and recover undersea vehicles from submarine torpedo tubes. This will enhance our strike and surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities, increasing the range and effectiveness of our undersea forces. Over the next year, AUKUS partners will continue to conduct trials and pursue increased interoperability of undersea systems.

AUKUS

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent progress he has made on quantum technologies in the AUKUS partnership.

James Cartlidge: At the recent AUKUS Defence Ministerial Meeting in December 2023, AUKUS partners agreed to accelerate the development of quantum technologies for positioning, navigation, and timing in military capabilities. These capabilities will enhance our force resilience in GPS-degraded environments and enhance stealth in the undersea domain.

AUKUS

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Written Statement of 4 December 2023 entitled Update on the AUKUS Defence Partnership, HCWS89, what opportunities will there be for UK industry to engage with the scaling-up of maritime capabilities.

James Cartlidge: AUKUS partners engage closely with UK industry to keep them informed on all opportunities within the partnership. Our three governments will bolster our efforts here using the AUKUS Industry Forum announced at the December AUKUS Defence Ministerial meeting, including to inform policy, technical, and commercial frameworks to facilitate further the development and delivery of advanced capabilities.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many open work orders for repairs there were for (a) Service Family Accommodation and (b) Single Living Accommodation as of 16 January 2024..

James Cartlidge: As at 16 January 2024, there were 15,095 open work orders for response maintenance for Service Family Accommodation and 16,542 for Single Living Accommodation.

Armed Forces: Housing

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what proportion of service family accommodation properties (a) are vacant and (b) meet the Decent Homes Standard as of 16 January 2024.

James Cartlidge: As at 16 January 2024, the Department has 47,863 Service Family Accommodation (SFA) properties in the UK, 18.6% of SFA were vacant and 96% of SFA met Decent Homes Standard. The void rate has reduced from 23% in 2019 to c19.5% in November 2023 to 18.6% in January 2024. Forthcoming changes to accommodation entitlements under the New Accommodation Offer will significantly increase the number of personnel entitled to SFA. This is expected to lead to a significant increase in demand for SFA, thereby reducing the void rate further.

Ukraine: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans a third round for bids for funding from the International Fund for Ukraine.

James Heappey: A third International Fund for Ukraine bidding round, focused on maritime and air defence capabilities, will be launched shortly.

Ukraine: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how much and what proportion of total International Fund for Ukraine funding is committed to contracts as of 17 January 2023.

James Heappey: A total of £896 million has been pledged to the International Fund for Ukraine (IFU). As of 17 January 2024, £298 million, over 33% of the Fund, is now on contract.

RFA Sir Galahad

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, if he will take steps to publish all documents relating to the bombing of RFA Sir Galahad that are held at the National Archives.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The losses of RFA Sir Galahad due to enemy action was a tragedy. The sacrifice made by those onboard will not be forgotten, and we remain grateful to all the Armed Forces personnel and civilians who bravely served in the Falklands conflict. The release of papers is governed through the Public Records Act (PRA). At my request, officials have conducted a thorough review of the files under the terms of the Public Records Act (PRA) to determine whether any additional information can possibly be released, and I will be visiting The National Archives to view the files personally in the very near future as discussed last week.

Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment

Maria Eagle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 8912 on Ministry of Defence: Bullying and Harassment, in what year each complaint on the Defence Business Services case management system as bullying and harassment was first logged.

Dr Andrew Murrison: It is taking time to determine the required information to answer the right hon. Member's Question. I will write to her when the information is available, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of The House.

Armed Forces: Retention

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department plans to take to improve retention in the UK Armed Forces.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 19 January 2024 to Question 9841.Armed Forces Recruitment (docx, 15.8KB)

Armed Forces: Applications

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8310 on Armed Forces: Applications, what the average length of time was for a person joining the Army to be vetted for a (a) counter-terrorist check, (b) security check, (c) enhanced security check and (d) developed vetting level in the latest period for which data is available.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 16 January 2024 to Question 8310 on Armed Forces: Applications, what the average length of time was for vetting prospective personnel seeking to join the Army to a baseline personnel security standard in each year since 2010.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Based on current data held, and subject to the information provided by the candidate, a Counter Terrorist Check, which is conducted only for overseas candidates, takes an average of eight to 10 weeks; Basic Checks (Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS), Disclosure Scotland and Access Northern Ireland (ANI)) takes on average two weeks; and Enhanced DBS takes on average four weeks. Developed Vetting (DV) is not recorded during the recruitment process as it is only completed, when necessary, once individuals have joined the Army. The average length of time for vetting prospective personnel seeking to join the Army is not held in the format requested. The Army’s Recruiting Group is not required to record this information within the Recruiting Partnering Project contract with Capita.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has (a) had discussions with his US counterpart on and (b) put in place mechanisms for civilian harm tracking in relation to UK-US military operations.

James Heappey: UK Ministers and officials speak regularly with US counterparts to ensure coherence and alignment between our two nations, including on joint military activities. The UK has robust procedures to ensure that all military operations, including airstrikes, are conducted in full compliance with International Humanitarian Law and in a manner that reflects the UK’s clear commitment to the protection of civilians.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of extending the training period provided to Ukrainian personnel under Operation Interflex.

James Heappey: The training lasts for five weeks due to feedback from Ukraine. Training is subject to the requirements of the Armed forces of Ukraine (AFU) and the operational capacity of British and Ukrainian personnel. The AFU also have their own training mechanisms. We continue to learn from the Ukrainians about how tactics on the ground are evolving and adapt our training accordingly to ensure the training is suited to their needs.

Yemen: Military Intervention

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any UK assets in Oman have assisted (a) UK and (b) US airstrikes in Yemen since 11 January 2024.

James Heappey: No UK military assets in Oman have assisted either UK or US airstrikes on Yemen since 11 January 2024.

Ukraine: Armed Forces

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Ukrainian personnel have been trained under Operation Interflex since its inception.

James Heappey: The UK continues to deliver a major training operation for Ukrainian forces, with over 34,000 Ukrainian personnel trained in the UK under Operation INTERFLEX since it commenced in June 2022. The UK has trained more than 60,000 Ukrainians since Op ORBITAL was launched in 2015 in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2014.

Aviation: Training

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many (a) RAF and (b) other pilots qualified from UK training programmes in each year since 2010.

James Heappey: I am withholding the information requested as its disclosure would, or would be likely to prejudice the capability, effectiveness or security of the Armed Forces.

Falkland Islands: Armed Forces

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of defence support for the Falkland Islands.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence undertakes regular assessments of the requirements for Defence support to the Falkland Islands. I am satisfied that the military presence in the South Atlantic is at the appropriate level to ensure the defence of the Islands.

Ukraine: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many contracts have been signed from the International Fund for Ukraine as of 17 January 2023.

James Heappey: As of 17 January 2024, the Ministry of Defence, on behalf of the IFU, had placed 23 contracts, worth c.£298 million, to provide critical equipment to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Department for Business and Trade

Small Businesses: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what the regional breakdown within Northern Ireland is of the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland loaned to small businesses from the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland.

Kevin Hollinrake: The £70million Investment Fund for Northern Ireland launched in November 2023, hence no investment commitments have yet been made. The Investment Fund for Northern Ireland offers a range of commercial finance options with loans from £25,000 to £2 million and equity investment of up to £5 million. The Fund covers the entirety of Northern Ireland, and is intended to ensure an equitable regional spread of investment finance across all of Northern Ireland.

Department for Business and Trade: Staff

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Business and Trade during the debate on UK Export Performance of 18 September 2023, Official Report, column 1200, how many people work in the dedicated free trade agreement utilisation team as of 17 January 2024; and how many people he plans to work in that team on average over the next two financial years.

Greg Hands: The Free Trade Agreement Utilisation team has around 20 full time employees who work closely with business-facing teams across the Nations and regions of the UK, teams based overseas, and across all of our Department’s export support ecosystem to raise awareness of our new FTAs and ensure business can seize the opportunities in those fast growing markets. Future years' resourcing will be decided as part of business planning for each financial year.

Life Sciences: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to support the (a) life and (b) health science sector in Northern Ireland.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Department for Business Trade is committed to ensuring that the life and health science sector is supported in Northern Ireland. Last year, a life and health sciences sector specialist was appointed to DBT’s Northern Ireland trade and investment hub. This dedicated resource ensures that businesses have access to DBT services, helping them to increase international exports, attract inward investment, and ensure sector interests are represented in trade policy. The sector was at the forefront of last year's Northern Ireland Investment Summit, where local companies showcased new technologies and cutting-edge innovations to an audience of over 180 global investors.

Ministers: Aviation

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department’s publication entitled DBT ministers’ overseas travel: July to September 2023, published on 15 December 2023, how much of the (a) £5,711.94 spent on the visit of the Minister of State for Business and Trade to India from 1 July to 4 July 2023 and (b) £6,123.51 spent on his visit to Oman from 12 September to 15 September 2023 was spent on air travel.

Greg Hands: a) Of the £5,711.94, £5.463.14 was spent on air travel to India between 1 July 2023 and 4 July 2023.b) Of the £6,123.5, £6,123.5 was spent on air travel to Oman between 12 September 2023 and 15 September 2023.

Ministers: Aviation

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department’s publication entitled DBT ministers’ overseas travel: July to September 2023, published on 15 December 2023, how much of the (a) £14,486.53 spent on her visit to Australia and New Zealand from 13 July to 19 July 2023 and (b) £7,223.21 spent on her visit to India from 24 August to 27 August 2023 was spent on air travel.

Greg Hands: a) Of the £14,486.53, £14,074.71 was spent on air travel between 13 July and 19 July 2023.b) Of the £7,223.21, £6,668.21 was spent on air travel between 24 August and 27 August 2023.

Food: Japan

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent discussions she has had with (a) the Secretary of State for Wales and (b) her Japanese counterpart on the geographical indication status of Welsh food and drink products in Japan.

Greg Hands: The department is working closely with Japanese officials to agree a date for entry into force of the necessary amendments to the UK-Japan Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement, at which point the first tranche of British products will join the seven Geographical Indications (GIs) already in our agreement in receiving protected status. The Secretary of State discussed this process with her counterpart at the Joint Committee in Japan in October 2023.

Horizon IT System: Compensation

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, how many and what proportion of claimants to the group litigation order scheme for sub-postmasters affected by the Post Office Horizon scandal have received full and final compensation as of 17 January 2024.

Kevin Hollinrake: As of 15th January 2024, 28 out of 59 claims received under the Group Litigation Order scheme had been paid in full and offers made on a further 16 claims.

Horizon IT System: Compensation

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, with reference to her Department's publication entitled Group Litigation Order Compensation Scheme: questions and answers, updated 29 November 2023, what progress her Department has made on issuing an initial offer in 90% of cases brought by sub-postmasters within 40 days of submission of a complete claim.

Kevin Hollinrake: This information will be published in February on GOV.UK as part of the next monthly Post Office Horizon Compensation data pack.

Department for Education

Childcare: Blackpool South

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the average cost to parents of childcare for a (a) two year old and (b) three or four year old child for 25 hours per week in Blackpool South constituency as of 17 January 2024.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment has she made of the adequacy of availability of childcare places in Blackpool South constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of childcare providers that have closed in Blackpool South constituency in each of the last five years.

David Johnston: In the government’s Spring Budget 2023, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, announced transformative reforms to childcare for parents, children and the economy. By 2027/28, this government will expect to be spending in excess of £8 billion every year on free hours and early education, helping working families with their childcare costs. This represents the single biggest investment in childcare in England. Blackpool South constituency is within the area covered by Blackpool Council. The department does not hold data for the number of childcare providers that have either opened or closed in the Blackpool South constituency, specifically, or by individual years. The department continually monitors the sufficiency of childcare in local authorities, and has regular contact with all local authorities in England, about their sufficiency of childcare and any issues they are facing. The key measure of sufficiency is whether the supply of available places is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents and children.Under Section 6 of the Childcare Act 2006, local authorities are responsible for ensuring that the provision of childcare is sufficient to meet the requirements of parents in their area. Part B of the ‘Early education and childcare’ statutory guidance for local authorities highlights that local authorities are required to report annually to elected council members on how they are meeting their duty to secure sufficient childcare, and to make this report available and accessible to parents. If Blackpool Council report any sufficiency challenges, the department discusses what action the local authority is taking to address those issues, and where needed, supports them with any specific requirements through its childcare sufficiency support contract.

Children in Care: Mental Health Services

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, with reference to his Department's planned update to the statutory guidance on Promoting the Health and Wellbeing of Looked After Children, if he will include a (a) specific focus on mental health services for that group as part of that update and (b) strategy for delivering those services in a culturally sensitive manner.

David Johnston: The government gave a commitment to update the statutory guidance, ‘Promoting the health and wellbeing of looked-after children’ and extend it to care leavers up to age 25, in the ‘Stable Homes, Built on Love’ strategy for the reform of children’s social care. The update forms part of the wider mission in the strategy, to reduce the disparities in long-term mental and physical health outcomes and improve wellbeing for care-experienced people. The Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care are taking forward this update together, and work is underway to understand how the current guidance is working in practice and where changes are necessary. This includes consideration of whether there is a need to include further guidance regarding mental health support for looked-after children and care leavers, as well as consideration of whether there is a need to include further guidance relating to cohorts with particular characteristics. The department will work with a wide range of stakeholders with a diversity of professional and personal experience to ensure that the guidance is sensitive to the health and wellbeing needs of all looked-after children and care leavers, including those with protected characteristics as part of government’s duty under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010.

Special Educational Needs: Blackpool North and Cleveleys

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate she has made of the average waiting time for an Education, Health and Care Plan in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of Education, Health and Care Plans were issued outside the 20 week timeframe in Blackpool North and Cleveleys constituency in the latest period for which that data is available.

David Johnston: I refer the hon. Member for Dulwich and West Norwood to the answer of 19 January 2024 to Questions 9903 and 9904.

Video Games: Degrees

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many students took undergraduate degrees in Games and Animation in the academic year 2022-23.

Robert Halfon: The Higher Education Statistics Agency, which is now part of JISC, is responsible for collecting and publishing data about UK higher education. The latest statistics refer to the 2021/22 academic year.The number of full person equivalents [1] studying at undergraduate level in the subject area ‘Games and Animation’ [2] in 2021/22 was 13,430, including 4,820 first year enrolments. To note, figures have been rounded to the nearest five. An additional 4,075 full person equivalents, including 1,420 first year enrolments, were recorded in the ‘animation’ category’ [3], which falls under ‘Cinematics and photography’ subjects, and includes other forms of animation, not gaming animation specifically. More information is available via the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/students/table-52. Updates on the timing of statistics for the 2022/23 academic year are available here: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/data-and-analysis/upcoming. [1] Counts are on the basis of full-person-equivalents (FPE). Where a student is studying more than one subject, they are apportioned between the subjects that make up their course.[2] Enrolments in Computer games and animation (code 11-01-06 of the Common Aggregation Hierarchy (CAH) tier 3). More information on CAH codes can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos/cah.[3] Enrolments in Animation (code 100057 of the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS)). More information on HECoS codes can be found at the following link: https://www.hesa.ac.uk/support/documentation/hecos.

Home Education

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps her Department is taking to identify the number of children that are home schooled.

Damian Hinds: The department collects termly data on home educated children from local authorities on a voluntary basis. This collection has achieved a high response rate to date, and the department has received data from all local authorities in England. The aggregate-level data collected has helped the department to understand for the first time numbers of electively home-educated children on a local level and to see breakdowns by sex, age, ethnicity and other demographics as well as an understanding of the reasons that growing numbers of parents are opting to educate their children at home. The data is available at https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/elective-home-education/2022-23.The department remains committed to legislation for a local authority registration system for children not in school. The proposed measures would go further than mandating the information to be recorded and kept by local authorities. The legislation will also introduce corresponding duties on parents of home-educating children to register their children with the local authority, which is a change to the current situation where there is no parental obligation to notify a local authority that home education is taking place. Additionally, providers of out-of-school education would be required to supply certain information to local authorities for their registers, which will further help to identify home-educated children.

Pupils: Ethnic Groups

Neil O'Brien: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the average height was for state school pupils in (a) reception and (b) year six in each academic year since 2005-06 in England; what the average height was for state school pupils in each ethnic group in those academic years in that period; and how many state school pupils were in each ethnic group in those academic years in that period.

Damian Hinds: The department does not hold information about pupils’ height. The Office for Health Improvement and Monitoring within the Department of Health and Social Care are responsible for carrying out the school height and weight checks. More information is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-child-measurement-programme-operational-guidance/national-child-measurement-programme-2022-information-for-schools.The attached spreadsheet contains information from the January school census on the number of pupils in England in reception and year six by ethnic group from the 2006/07 to 2022/23 academic years. The department does not hold data for 2005/06.9631 Data table (xlsx, 39.1KB)

Department of Education: Feltham and Heston

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what (a) schemes and (b) grants their Department administers that are open for (i) individuals, (ii) organisations and (iii) other groups in Feltham and Heston constituency to apply for as of 10 January 2024.

Damian Hinds: In the 2023/24 financial year, the department will provide over £87 billion of capital and revenue funding in England. The largest portion of funding is for core education provision for schools for 5- to 16-year-olds. In the same financial year schools in Feltham and Heston will attract over £111.6 million, through the schools National Funding Formula.The department does not administer grants at a constituency level. Some funding is distributed via grants that are made available at local authority level. More information on Hounslow’s grants for schools, children and families is available here: https://www.hounslow.gov.uk/info/20008/schools_children_and_families.More information on future general grant schemes can be found here: https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the implications for her Department's policies of the report from the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology entitled Indoor Air Quality, published on 26 September 2023.

Damian Hinds: The department publishes non-statutory guidance on indoor air quality in ‘Building Bulletin 101: Guidelines on ventilation, thermal comfort and indoor air quality in school’ (BB101).BB101 is regularly reviewed to ensure that it aligns with best practice and industry standards to deliver high-quality school environments. The department will assess the report of the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) for any relevant new information.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the level of persistent school absence rates in the last 12 months.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps she is taking to help tackle persistent school absences.

Damian Hinds: Persistent absence is a post-pandemic challenge which is affecting schools around the world. With the standards of schools continuing to rise, the benefits of this success can only be felt when all children are in school.The department knows that persistent absence is often a symptom of other problems. Progress has already been made with 380,000 fewer children persistently absent or not attending in the 2022/23 academic year than in 2021/22. The department’s comprehensive strategy to improve attendance continues to tackle this attendance challenge.The department has published new, stronger guidance setting out the expectations for schools, academy trusts and local authorities to work together to improve attendance. To make it easier for schools and local authorities to identify pupils at risk of becoming persistently absence, a new attendance data tool to has also been piloted with 88% of state-funded schools currently involved.This year, the department will introduce 18 new attendance hubs, bringing the total to 32 and 2,000 schools supported to tackle persistent absence. Attendance hubs involve several leading schools sharing practical solutions with others to break down barriers to attendance. From direct pupil engagement initiatives, like breakfast clubs and extracurricular activities, to improving other schools’ processes and analysis, these hubs are already making a real difference, with more than one million pupils being supported into regular education.The department is also expanding the three-year mentoring programme to tackle absenteeism. Backed by an additional investment of £15 million, this programme provides direct intensive one-to-one support to 10,000 persistent and severely absent pupils and their families. From September 2024, attendance mentors will work in a further ten areas. These areas are in addition to the existing pilot programme with Barnardo’s, which is already operating in Middlesbrough, Doncaster, Knowsley, Salford, and Stoke on Trent.Ten newly appointed expert attendance advisers have also played an important role in supporting local authorities and a number of multi-academy trusts with higher levels of persistent absence to review their current practice and develops plans to improve.Alongside these measures, the department is investing:Almost £2.9 billion this financial year in the Pupil Premium, which can be used to support attendance.£2.6 billion between now and 2025 on the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities and Alternative Provision improvement plan.£200 million per annum in the holiday activities and food programme.£30 million in the national school breakfast programme.An additional £200 million in the supporting families programme, which specifies improved attendance.

Home Office

Roads: Accidents

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of establishing national minimum standards for investigations into road collisions.

Chris Philp: Standards in relation to the investigation of fatal and serious injury road collisions is set out in authorised professional practice published by the College of Policing.Further details can be found at: Investigation of fatal and serious injury road collisions | College of Policing

Police: Pay

Mark Logan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of police pay.

Mark Logan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will take steps to reduce the pay difference for experienced police community support officers transitioning to become police constables.

Chris Philp: On 13 July 2023, the Government announced that it had accepted the recommendations of the Police Remuneration Review Body (PRRB) to award a consolidated increase of 7% to all ranks up to and including assistant chief constable and commander with effect from 1 September 2023. The Government also awarded the same increase to chief constables, deputy chief constables and ranks above commander in the Metropolitan Police Service and City of London Police. The PRRB’s recommendation to remove the lowest pay point for constables was also accepted, bringing starting salaries up to £28,551.The independent PRRB and Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB) consider and make recommendations to the Government on the appropriate level of pay and allowances for police officers. The Review Bodies gather and invite parties to submit evidence to inform their decisions. This includes both written and oral evidence from the Government, police employers and police staff associations.The Home Secretary’s remit letters to the PRRB and SSRB, published on 20 December 2023, ask for recommendations on how to apply the pay award for 2024/25. The Government will give very careful consideration to their recommendations when they submit their reports in May.The Government has no statutory role in determining the pay and conditions for police staff, including police community support officers, which are agreed locally by Chief Constables in consultation with trade unions.

Nitrous Oxide: West Midlands

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of measures taken by the police to tackle nitrous oxide use in the West Midlands.

Chris Philp: The government controlled nitrous oxide as a Class C drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 on 8 November last year. We are keeping implementation of the ban under review with police forces and key stakeholders.The government is aware of early successes from law enforcement partners, including the first conviction under the new law this month. The government has committed to publish a review of the effect of the control of nitrous oxide under the 1971 Act.This will be a broad-ranging assessment of the effect of control and will be published three years from the date of its control in November 2026.

West Mercia Police: Finance

Helen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much of the funding for the National Rural Crime Unit will be allocated to West Mercia Police.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to driving down rural crime. Whether someone lives in the countryside or a town or city, they should get the same service from the police if they fall victim to a crime.The Home Office has provided £200,000 funding this financial year to help set up the National Rural Crime Unit, with an additional £100,000 from DEFRA. The National Rural Crime Unit has secured over £1m of funding from industry for the next three financial years, including from NFU Mutual, Network Rail and Construction and Equipment Association.The National Rural Crime Unit aims to help police forces tackle rural crime priorities through the provision of specialist operational support, as well as through sharing best practice and encouraging regional and national approaches to tackling rural crime. Funding provided by the Government for the National Rural Crime Unit is not allocated to individual forces.

Police: Complaints

Ashley Dalton: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what is the average time taken to investigate complaints by professional standards teams in police forces.

Chris Philp: The Independent Office for Police Conduct (IOPC) collects and publishes information from all police forces in England and Wales about the type of complaints they are receiving and how long they take to deal with them. The most recent police complaints statistics report can be found here:https://www.policeconduct.gov.uk/our-work/research-and-statistics/police-complaints-statisticsThe first stage of complaint handling is for the relevant police force or appropriate body, such as a Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office, to consider how best to handle the complaint. Certain types of complaints can be resolved informally where it is appropriate to do so and the issue can be resolved quickly to the complainant’s satisfaction.The IOPC data shows, in 2022/23 police forces finalised 55,524 allegations in complaint cases that were handled informally. On average, these allegations took 16 working days to finalise.All complaints should be handled in a reasonable and proportionate manner by police forces. For formal complaints, this may mean responding to concerns raised and seeking to resolve them (in some cases via an investigation) and keeping the complainant properly informed throughout the process, and explaining the outcome, including closing the complaint.The IOPC data shows, in 2022/23 police forces finalised a total of 71,805 allegations in complaint cases handled formally of which 17,098 were investigated accounting for 24%. Of those allegations finalised by local investigation, it took an average of 159 working days.

Internet: Safety

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps his Department is taking to help protect young people from online (a) abuse and (b) grooming.

Chris Philp: The Government remains firmly committed to tackling all forms of child sexual abuse online and in our communities across the UK and internationally. Our approach is underpinned by the Tackling Child Sexual Abuse Strategy which sets out firm commitments to drive action across the whole system.The Online Safety Act gained Royal Assent in October 2023, and seeks to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. The Act will for the first time, place clear legal duties on technology companies to take proactive steps to identify, remove and prevent users encountering illegal content, including child sexual abuse, from their platforms. The Government has worked closely with Ofcom to ensure that the implementation period that will be necessary following passage of the legislation is as short as possible.Child sexual abuse is named in the act as a priority offence meaning companies must use systems and processes to minimise, remove, and report this content to the NCA or another foreign body. The regulator shall publish codes of practice which will include specific measures on CSEA, setting out how companies will have to comply with their legal duties. Companies must take the steps recommended by Ofcom or take measures that are equally as effective.The Home Office continues to work with international Partners to work on law enforcement cooperation to pursue offenders and bring them to justice, and building capacity to combat this complex and evolving threat around the world given the nature of evolving threat

Forensic Science Regulator: Complaints

Drew Hendry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made a recent assessment of the adequacy of the options available to people who wish to complain about the reasons for a compliance notice when the Forensic Science Regulator issue's them a notice.

Chris Philp: Section 8 of the Forensic Science Regulator Act came into force on 2 October 2023 via statutory instrument, allowing a person issued with a compliance notice to appeal to the First Tier Tribunal if they feel a compliance notice has been wrongly issued. Since then, no compliance notices have been issued by the Regulator.The Act only applies to forensic science activities conducted in England and Wales. Further assessment of the adequacy of the provisions would be covered by post-legislative scrutiny.

Humberside Police: Finance

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how much and what proportion of the funding for the National Rural Crime Unit will be allocated to Humberside Police in each of the next five years.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to driving down rural crime. Whether someone lives in the countryside or a town or city, they should get the same service from the police if they fall victim to a crime.The Home Office has provided £200,000 funding this financial year to help set up the National Rural Crime Unit, with an additional £100,000 from DEFRA. The National Rural Crime Unit has secured over £1m of funding from industry for the next three financial years, including from NFU Mutual, Network Rail and Construction and Equipment Association.The National Rural Crime Unit aims to help police forces tackle rural crime priorities through the provision of specialist operational support, as well as through sharing best practice and encouraging regional and national approaches to tackling rural crime. Funding provided by the Government for the National Rural Crime Unit is not allocated to individual forces.

Visas: Families

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, on what date the threshold for family visas will be raised to £34,500.

Tom Pursglove: We will raise the minimum income for family visas incrementally in stages to give predictability to families. Further details will be set out in due course.

Intimate Image Abuse: Internet

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, for what reason 15,000 non-consensual images reported as part of Operation Makedom remain online; and what steps he is taking to seek the removal of that content.

Laura Farris: The Online Safety Act gained Royal Assent in October 2023 and seeks to make the UK the safest place in the world to be online. It will, for the first time, place clear legal duties on technology companies to take proactive steps to identify, remove and prevent users encountering illegal content, including child sexual abuse material and non-consensually shared intimate images from their platforms. The Act also updates and improves legislation relating to the taking and sharing of intimate images.The Government has funded the Revenge Porn Helpline to support victims of non-consensual intimate image sharing, colloquially known as ‘revenge porn’. since it was established in 2015. The Home Office is providing £150k to the Helpline in 2023/24.The Home Office has developed the world-leading Child Abuse Image Database (CAID) which brings together all the images that the Police and NCA encounter. We have provided the Internet Watch Foundation with a connection to CAID, enabling them to share the images’ unique identifiers – called hashes - to allow more child sexual abuse material online to be identified and removed. Home Office investment also supports the National Crime Agency to remove the most horrific child sexual abuse material from the internet, including on the dark web.

Asylum: Employment

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the National Institute of Economic and Social Research Discussion Paper No. 549 entitled The Economic and Social Impacts of Lifting Work Restrictions on People Seeking Asylum, published on 25 June 2023, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of allowing asylum seekers to work.

Tom Pursglove: Asylum seekers who have had their claim outstanding for 12 months or more, through no fault of their own, are allowed to work. Those permitted to work are restricted to jobs on the Shortage Occupation List. This is based on expert advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee. We are aware that the National Institute of Economic and Social Research published analysis on 25 June 2023, which set out the estimated fiscal impact to the UK should there be a relaxation of the policy. It is the Home Office assessment that any analysis in this area is dependent on making assumptions from limited evidence and will therefore produce uncertain results. Whilst we keep all policies under review, there are no immediate plans to change the existing policy. It is important that we distinguish between individuals who need protection and those seeking to work here who can apply for a work visa under the Immigration Rules. The Government has always been clear that asylum seekers do not need to make perilous journeys in order to seek employment in the UK. Those in need of protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety. Unrestricted access to employment could act as an incentive for more migrants to choose to come here illegally; leading to further dangerous journeys across the Channel and supporting the business model of people smugglers, rather than claim asylum in the first safe country they reach. This could also undermine the legal routes for those seeking to work in the UK under the Points Based System. These routes include Skilled Worker, Global Talent, and Health and Care routes, which are supporting UK businesses to recruit workers with the skills and talent they need from around the world.

Agriculture: Seasonal Workers

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled UK government ‘breaching international law’ with seasonal worker scheme, says UN envoy, published on 12 January 2024, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the comments made by the UN’s special rapporteur on modern slavery on the UK's seasonal worker scheme.

Tom Pursglove: The Government is aware of the comments attributed to the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Modern Slavery regarding the operation of the Seasonal Worker Scheme in a recent press article. We do not, however, recognise the description of the operation of the UK’s Seasonal Worker route put forward in that article, on which the UN’s Special Rapporteur appear to be based.The Home Office keeps all aspects of the Seasonal Worker route under close and ongoing review, including the welfare of participating overseas workers. A key objective of the route is to ensure that migrant workers are protected against modern slavery and other labour abuses. The Home Office takes any allegations of mistreatment or abuse of this route extremely seriously. We will always take decisive action where we believe abusive practices are taking place or the conditions of the route are not being met.

Visas: Video Games

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the importance of the Shortage Occupation List to the UK video games industry.

Tom Pursglove: The Government agrees with the view of the independent and expert Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) that the Shortage Occupation List (SOL) is only of "negligible benefit" to the UK video games industry – namely reduced visa fees. The industry can use the Skilled Worker route, regardless of whether its jobs are on the SOL.The main benefit of the SOL is in providing a discount to the general salary threshold for the Skilled Worker route, currently set at £26,200 per year. The going rate for ‘Programmers and software development professionals (Standard Occupational Code: 2136)’ is above the current general threshold of £26,200 at £34,000 per year. Occupations with going rates above the general threshold would not benefit from this discount, as Skilled Workers would need to be paid the higher of the general threshold or the going rate for that occupation.

VFS Global: Visas

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 December 2023 to Question 3995 on VFS Global, what steps his Department is taking to monitor the administration of the UK visa appointment system by VFS Global.

Tom Pursglove: The NGOV contract, the commercial vehicle that manages the terms of service delivered by VFS, has a KPI regime to manage supplier performance. CSL5 is the KPI that measures appointment availability. This KPI is published publicly, by the Cabinet Office, on a quarterly basis.VFS review their appointment capacity on a daily basis and open additional slots where demand is high in order to remain within service standard. The CSL5 KPI is also monitored by UKVI who conduct weekly audits on appointment availability to ensure compliance and provide feedback to VFS Global where additional capacity is required. A review of this KPI also forms part of the monthly performance calls held between UKVI and VFS Global.

British Nationality: Applications

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of waiting times for decisions on applications for British citizenship.

Tom Pursglove: The Secretary of State’s Home Department publishes data on the processing of applications for British citizenship on the Gov.UK website. This includes performance against the service standard for completing applications. The most recent Migration Transparency data published in November 2023 shows that 99.98% of straightforward applications were decided within service standard. The link to the latest Migration Transparency Data can be found here:Visas and citizenship data: Q3 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

Personal Records: Non-fungible Tokens

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens in the issuing of (a) birth certificates and (b) marriage licences.

Tom Pursglove: The General Register Office for England and Wales, (part of the Home Office) has made no assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens for any of its services.

Members: Telephone Services

Vicky Foxcroft: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether calls to his Department's MP Enquiry line team have been outsourced.

Tom Pursglove: Calls to the MP Enquiry Line have not been outsourced. MP Enquiry Line call agents are Home Office staff.

Asylum

Alistair Strathern: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many migrants have been processed at each asylum centre in each calendar month since September 2021.

Tom Pursglove: The Home Office publishes data on asylum in the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on asylum applications and decisions is published in tables Asy_D01 and Asy_D02 of the ‘Asylum applications, decisions and resettlement detailed datasets’. Information on how to use the dataset can be found in the ‘Notes’ page of the workbook. The latest data relates to year ending September 2023. Data on the asylum centre that the migrant was processed at is not published. Information on future Home Office statistical release dates can be found in the ‘Research and statistics calendar’.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Dogs: Meat

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will take steps with international partners to help end the (a) trade and (b) consumption of dog meat.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The British Government believe that the eating of dogs is a deplorable and revolting practice. The UK Government is committed to raising standards of animal welfare at home and abroad. We are already undertaking an ambitious approach to cooperation and collaboration in many of our new Free Trade Agreements where we are seeking commitments to work with trading partners on animal welfare. We will continue to use our position as a global leader for international advocacy on animal welfare to forge new relationships with our trading partners and other nations across the globe to promote high animal welfare. The consumption of dog meat is legal in many countries and there are no international norms, laws or agreements governing this. We believe that it is necessary to work with Governments around the world to gain agreement on animal welfare standards, and to phase out cruel and inhumane practices.

Israel: Palestinians

Claudia Webbe: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether his Department has made an assessment of the accuracy of allegations of the use of white phosphorus use in the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law; we keep under continuous review whether they are abiding by their obligations. We are deeply concerned about the impact on the civilian population in Gaza and recognise that too many civilians have been killed. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. We continue to call for IHL to be respected and civilians to be protected.

Northern Ireland Protocol and Windsor Framework

Jim Shannon: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, whether he has had recent discussions with his counterparts in the EU on the adequacy of the operation of the (a) Northern Ireland Protocol and (b) Windsor Framework in Northern Ireland.

Leo Docherty: The Windsor Framework replaced the old Northern Ireland Protocol, addressing issues in its operations and protecting Northern Ireland's place in the UK. We continue to have routine discussions with the EU on the operation of the Windsor Framework, including through the structures put in place through the Withdrawal Agreement and bolstered in agreeing the Windsor Framework.

Arms Trade: Gender Based Violence

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the UK's gender-based violence commitments under the Arms Trade Treaty, what due diligence his Department has carried out on the use of its (a) arms and (b) other military equipment.

Leo Docherty: The Government takes its strategic export control responsibilities very seriously. We examine each export licence application for arms and military equipment on a case-by-case basis against the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria. Consideration for the UK's gender-based violence commitments under the Arms Trade Treaty are outlined in Criteria 2, 3, 4 and 6. We draw on a range of sources in making assessments, including NGOs and international organisations, our diplomatic posts and reports from our overseas networks. The Government will not grant an export licence if to do so would be inconsistent with the Strategic Export Licensing Criteria.

Syria: Turkey

Feryal Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment has he made of the implications for his policies of the airstrikes by Turkey in northern Syria.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what discussions he has had with his Turkish counterpart on Turkey’s airstrikes in northern Syria.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what information his Department holds on the number of civilian deaths from Turkish air strikes in northern Syria.

Leo Docherty: As a close NATO ally, we regularly engage with Turkey on regional stability, including in Syria. The UK recognises Turkey's legitimate security interests in Syria but also the need to protect civilian lives and infrastructure, and to avoid destabilising activity. Stability in the region is essential to prevent worsening of the already serious humanitarian situation in northern Syria and enable the Global Coalition to continue the fight against Daesh. We continue to monitor the situation. The UK continues to deliver aid to those in need in northern Syria.

Somaliland: Recognition of States

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will start discussions with the Government of the Republic of Somaliland to agree a timeline and conditions for recognition.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK's position on this issue is unchanged; we believe that the settlement of Somaliland's status is an issue for Somalia and Somaliland to resolve. This requires a consultative process and dialogue, in which the UK encourages both Somalia and Somaliland to engage. Regarding the recent agreement between Ethiopia and Somaliland, the UK's position on recognition has not changed. On this we are in line with the African Union and other international partners.

Houthis: Shipping

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, which UK flagged vessels have been attacked by the Houthis since 7 October 2023.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: Since 19 November, the Houthis have carried out a series of dangerous and destabilising attacks against commercial shipping in the Red Sea. Contrary to their claims, the Houthis have been targeting shipping with no connection to Israel, including British-flagged vessels.As of 17 January, the Joint Maritime Security Centre report that there have been 36 Houthi related incidents (Drone/Missile attack or near miss, Seizure, UAS Harassment, Suspicious Approach) in the Red Sea affecting 11 separate flag states. Vessels with British links were GALAXY LEADER; UNITY EXPLORER; AL MARROUNA; NUMBER 9; ARDMORE EXPLORER; NAVIG8 MONTIEL; GREEN TRADER; CMA CGM TAGE and one Red Ensign Group (REG-flagged vessel): SWAN ATLANTIC.HMS Diamond was first targeted by a Houthi attack on 9 January.We continue to work with our allies and partners to safeguard maritime security and navigation rights and freedoms in the Red Sea.

Somaliland: Politics and Government

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will hold discussions with his counterpart in the government of the Republic of Somaliland on (a) regional security and (b) use of the port of Berbera.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Since the announcement of the Ethiopia - Somaliland memorandum of understanding (MoU) the UK has been engaging closely with all parties involved, including the Somaliland authorities, to call for calm and dialogue. We are urging all involved to avoid action that would negatively affect regional security, especially the crucial fight against al-Shabaab. Separately, the UK is supporting the Berbera Corridor project through the 'Unlocking Prosperity in the Horn of Africa' programme. This has included £25 million in funding towards the development of infrastructure to facilitate access to Berbera port for Ethiopia and the wider region.

Somaliland and Somalia: Foreign Relations

Tim Loughton: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, if he will take steps to coordinate policies on the Republic of Somaliland and Somalia.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The UK is one of Somalia's closest and longest standing partners, and one of very few Western countries with a permanent diplomatic presence in Somaliland. We support Somaliland in enhancing stability and promoting economic, human and social development. This stands alongside our significant political, humanitarian and security assistance to Somalia as a whole.

Gaza: Hospitals

Sir Desmond Swayne: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, with reference to the oral contribution of the Second Church Estates Commissioner on 11 January 2023, Official Report, column 443, whether his Department has sought information on the (a) whereabouts and (b) wellbeing of staff from the Anglican al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza who were taken by the Israeli Defence Force.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: It is the longstanding policy of successive UK Governments that we do not comment on individual cases. However, we are concerned over reports about Israeli detention practices. The Government is clear that administrative detention should be used only where it is justified in accordance with international law. Those under detention should either be charged or released. The UK is committed to working with Israel to secure improvements in its detention practices and repeatedly calls on Israel to abide by its obligations under international law. The safety of humanitarian personnel and healthcare workers in Gaza is critical to enable aid to reach those who need it most.

Israel: International Law

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in Israel on the importance of upholding international law.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: We support Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas, but it must comply with International Humanitarian Law and there must be a reduction in civilian casualties. We want to see Israel take greater care to limit its operations to military targets and avoid harming civilians and destroying homes. The Foreign Secretary has raised these issues with his Israeli counterparts, including with the Foreign Minister Yisrael Katz and Ron Dermer, the Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs.

West Bank: Violence

Seema Malhotra: To ask the Minister of State, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, what assessment he has made of the of the potential impact of trends in the level of settler violence in the West Bank on the local population.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Government is concerned at the high numbers of Palestinians killed in the West Bank, and we continue to be clear that extremist settlers, by targeting and killing Palestinian civilians, are undermining security and stability. We have urged Israel to take stronger action to stop settler violence and hold the perpetrators accountable. It is critical that Israel acts to reduce tensions in the West Bank.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Food Supply: Vacancies

George Eustice: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when his Department plans to respond to the Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain, published in June 2023.

Mark Spencer: The Government is currently considering the 10 recommendations from the Independent Review into Labour Shortages in the Food Supply Chain and intends publishing a Government Response in early 2024.

Sharks: Animal Products

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what data his Department holds on the amount of shark meat that entered the commercial food chain in each of the last five years.

Mark Spencer: While we monitor landings of shark species into UK ports and abroad by UK vessels, as well as UK trade flows of shark commodities, we do not hold data on the volume of shark meat entering the commercial food chain.The UK Government continues to be a leading voice for sustainable fisheries, trade and protection of shark species. The UK places the utmost importance on ensuring that appropriate protection and management is in place for all shark species. While we are not opposed to the capture of sharks in commercial fisheries, we want to ensure those fisheries are sustainable, trade is managed, and that appropriate management measures are in place.

Public Footpaths and Rights of Way: Access

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to help ensure that public (a) footpaths and (b) rights of way are accessible.

Rebecca Pow: Local authorities are responsible for the management and maintenance of public rights of way, including making sure they are in a fit state for public use, are visible and free from obstructions, as well as ensuring landowners comply with their duty to maintain public rights of way that cross their land. Local authorities are required to keep a Rights of Way Improvement Plan to plan improvements to the rights of way network in their area, which are usually available on the authority’s website. This must include an assessment of the local rights of way, including the condition of the network, and consulting of interested parties including local access forums. The Government is delivering the £14.5 million ‘Access for All’ programme, which consists of a package of targeted measures in our protected landscapes, National Trails, forests and the wider countryside to make access to green and blue spaces more inclusive. We are also working to complete the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP) which, at around 2,700 miles, will be the longest waymarked and maintained coast walking route in the world. Over 1,000 miles are already open and we aim to make the KCIIIECP as accessible as possible. We are also designating Wainwright’s coast to coast route across the north of England as a National Trail and have considered accessibility from the start. We remain committed to implementing the rights of way reforms package which will streamline processes for the recording of rights of way, benefiting users, landowners and local authorities.

Salmon: Fish Farming

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to (a) improve the welfare of farmed salmon and (b) reduce the environmental impact of salmon farms.

Mark Spencer: a) Defra and the devolved governments commissioned the Animal Welfare Committee to update its 2014 opinion on the welfare of farmed fish at the time of killing and this was published in September 2023. We are studying their recommendations carefully to determine next steps. b) We take all matters relating to the marine environment seriously and are seeking to ensure that the ocean is managed sustainably. Through our membership of North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organization (NASCO), the UK has committed to minimising the impact of salmon farming on wild salmon populations. Within the UK, all marine salmon farming currently takes place in Scotland and Northern Ireland. As aquaculture and marine management are devolved competencies, managing the environmental impact of current salmon farming activity is the responsibility of their devolved administrations.

Environmental Land Management Schemes

Danny Kruger: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, further to the Answer of 27 March 2023 to Question 170767, what plans he has to make available financial support for increasing public access to the countryside under Environmental Land Management schemes.

Mark Spencer: We are making further changes to our Environmental Land Management schemes in 2024 to increase support for farmers and foresters to put new permissive access in place. This gives more choice about how farmers and foresters provide access across their land and will help more people safely access the countryside. The new permissive access actions we are introducing are as follows: Action:DurationPayment RateSummary DescriptionOpen Access5 years£92 per hectareProvide and maintain permissive open access to the public on areas of landFootpath Access5 years£77 per 100mProvide and maintain new permissive footpaths to the publicBridleways and cycle path access5 years£158 per 100mProvide and maintain new permissive bridleways and cycle pathsAccess for people with reduced mobility5 years£221 per 100mProvide and maintain new permissive access for people with reduced mobilityUpgrading Countryside and Rights of Way for cyclists and horse riders5 years£158 per 100mProvide and maintain access alongside existing rights of way for cyclists and horse riders

Marine Protected Areas: Fishing Gear

Selaine Saxby: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make it his policy to ban the use of bottom-towed fishing gear in marine protected areas on a whole-site basis.

Mark Spencer: Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are a devolved competency and the information provided therefore relates to England only. Each MPA protects specific features, whether that is a particular species or a variety of different habitats. Byelaws to protect MPAs from damaging fishing activity are developed using an evidence-led process to determine what measures are required to protect these specific features. Site by site assessments are carried out to tailor management measures and to avoid unnecessary restrictions on fishing. Only fishing activities which could damage the protected features of an MPA require management. Nearly 60% of the 181 English MPAs are already protected from damaging fishing activity. This includes byelaws made in 2022, which ban bottom towed gear over sensitive features in the first four offshore sites. The Marine Management Organisation consulted in 2023 on similar proposals for a further 13 sites; a decision on this will be taken shortly. We have also recently designated three Highly Protected Marine Areas. These sites have the highest level of protection in English waters and take a whole-site approach.

Dogs: Animal Welfare

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken to tackle the (a) cropping of dogs ears and (b) importation of dogs with cropped ears.

Mark Spencer: Under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 it is already an offence in England and Wales to carry out non-exempted mutilations on dogs, this includes the cropping of dog’s ears. In August 2021, we consulted on proposed changes to the commercial and non-commercial movements of pets into Great Britain including the importation of dogs with cropped ears. We are carefully reviewing the feedback from our consultation and wider engagement with stakeholders, and a summary will be published in due course.

Movement Assistance Scheme

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 22 February 2023 to Question 146816 on Northern Ireland Protocol and Trader Support Service: Costs, what the status is of the Movement Assistance Scheme.

Mark Spencer: The Movement Assistance Scheme has been extended to 30th June 2025.

Food: Labelling

Henry Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to include method of slaughter as an option in his recent consultation on consumer products food labelling.

Mark Spencer: In 2021, Defra ran a call for evidence to gather data on the impacts of different types of labelling reform for animal welfare, including considerations around imports, production systems and method of slaughter. We received over 1,600 responses and a summary of these responses is available on GOV.UK. As recently announced by the Secretary of State, we will soon be launching a consultation on clearer labelling. This will explore options for labels and the animal welfare standards behind them, including the period of life which should be covered by these standards.

Marine Animals: Fishing Catches

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of installing cameras on fishing vessels to gather data on marine mammal bycatch.

Mark Spencer: Defra acknowledged in several 2023 fisheries consultations that remote electronic monitoring (REM), including the installation of cameras, can tell us more about interactions between fishing activity and sensitive species. Specifically, our REM consultation set out our proposals in more detail. Using the information which REM provides will allow us to collaborate with the fishing industry to develop better methods for bycatch mitigation, supporting the UK Bycatch Mitigation Initiative. Defra have funded several mammal focused remote electronic monitoring research and development programmes in recent years, including the ongoing Insight360 programme. This programme aims to develop a comprehensive 360° view of marine mammal bycatch, above and below fishing vessels. If successful, this programme will inform the implementation of technology, such as cameras, on fishing vessels to monitor marine mammal bycatch in the years to come.

Bluetongue Disease: Kent

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent steps his Department has taken in response to the findings of its investigation into the cases of bluetongue virus in cattle in Kent.

Mark Spencer: Upon detection of bluetongue disease in Kent in November during our routine surveillance, Defra and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) officials took immediate and robust action. Animals on the affected premises in Kent, and subsequently Norfolk, have been humanely culled and Temporary Control Zones have been put in place to prevent potential spread of disease by restricting movements, except under licence, of ruminant and camelid animals. Surveillance of susceptible animals and epidemiological assessments within these zones continue and we will review the need for the Zones when this is complete. We continue to work closely with industry representatives to ensure that keepers are kept up to date with developments and that issues and concerns are addressed promptly.

Dangerous Dogs

Bob Blackman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what information his Department holds on trends in the number of dog attacks on cats; and if he will take legislative steps to help prevent such attacks.

Mark Spencer: Defra does not hold information on the number of dog attacks on cats. Any information on the number of reported dog-on-cat attacks will be held by individual local authorities and individual police forces. It is an offence under section 3(1) of the Dangerous Dogs Act 1991 to allow a dog to be dangerously out of control. We are currently working in partnership with the police, local authorities and animal welfare organisations to ensure that the full range of existing dog control powers are effectively applied to encourage responsible dog ownership and reduce the risk of dog attacks.

Animal Welfare: Veterinary Services

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the Answer of 5 July 2023 to Question 191886 on Animal Welfare: Veterinary Services, what the outcome was of the workforce modelling across the veterinary sector undertaken by the Royal Colleague of Veterinary Surgeons; and how many qualified vets will be needed by 2028 to respond to animal welfare issues.

Mark Spencer: The Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons’ (RCVS) workforce modelling of the veterinary sector is ongoing and will be published in due course. This workforce modelling will explore future veterinary capacity required to deliver on animal welfare and public health commitments. The Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs will continue to support the vital work of the veterinary profession and works closely with the RCVS.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether protocols exist to warn the (a) general public and (b) susceptible individuals during periods of high levels of air pollution.

Robbie Moore: The Government makes a wide range of information available to the public through the UK-Air website and X feed. This includes a five-day forecast, the latest local measurements from our nationwide monitoring networks, and health advice informed by the work of the Committee on the Medical Effects of Air Pollutants.Air quality forecasts are communicated using the Daily Air Quality Index (DAQI). The DAQI informs the public about levels of air pollution in their area and provides health advice in the form of recommended actions that could be taken according to the level of air pollution for both the general public and susceptible individuals.As part of the Air Quality Information System review, we are conducting an evaluation assessing the appropriateness and effectiveness of the current DAQI.

Veterinary Medicine: Northern Ireland

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help ensure the continued supply of veterinary medicines to Northern Ireland beyond 2025.

Mark Spencer: The Windsor Framework agreement has safeguarded the supplies of veterinary medicines from Great Britain to Northern Ireland to the end of 2025. During this extension to the grace period there will be no changes to the existing requirements on the supply of veterinary medicines to Northern Ireland and businesses should continue operating as they have done to date. The Government’s position is clear, there needs to be a long-term and permanent solution which maintains the uninterrupted flow of veterinary medicines into Northern Ireland from Great Britain on which so many people and businesses rely. Industry engagement continues to be our core focus over recent months, where we are strengthening and collating further evidence on products at risk. We remain clear with the EU that any future arrangements must take into account the overwhelming reliance of Northern Ireland on veterinary medicines from Great Britain.

Dogs: Smuggling

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of penalties for people illegally importing dogs.

Mark Spencer: The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals. In August 2021, the Government launched an 8-week consultation on proposed restrictions to the commercial and non-commercial movement of pets into Great Britain, and appropriate penalties for those who illegally import dogs. We are carefully reviewing this feedback and wider engagement with stakeholders in the animal welfare sector and a summary will be published in due course.

Owls: Conservation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the conservation of the barn owl population in (a) general and (b) Romford constituency.

Rebecca Pow: Environmental land management schemes include financial incentives for actions that are beneficial for barn owls, for example, the provision of nesting boxes. Through the Green Recovery Challenge Fund, the Government granted £123,700 to the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust’s Owl Box Initiative. The project was set up to help support barn owls by providing nest boxes for them on farms and researching barn owls’ farmland habitat use across the southwest of England.Furthermore, from July this year, restrictions on the open use of second-generation anticoagulant rodenticides will be brought into force to avoid negative impacts on non-target species such as barn owls.We have no records of any actions for this species specific to the Romford area.

Squirrels: Conservation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the conservation of the red squirrel population in (a) general and (b) Romford constituency.

Rebecca Pow: The Government remains committed to taking action to recover our threatened native species and has set a world-leading target to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030. Defra, Natural England and the Forestry Commission are signatories to the UK Squirrel Accord which aims to protect, identify and strengthen existing red squirrel populations, expand their current range, and promote better understanding and support for their conservation. Under the Countryside Stewardship scheme, financial support is available for farmers, foresters and land managers to support the recovery of red squirrels, such as funding for the management of grey squirrels. Conservation of the species is targeted to red squirrel stronghold areas in the north of England.

Hedgehogs: Conservation

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he has taken to support the conservation of the hedgehog population in (a) general and (b) Romford constituency.

Rebecca Pow: The Government is committed to taking further action to recover threatened native species. In England, we have set four legally binding targets: to halt the decline in species abundance by 2030; then to reverse declines by 2042; to reduce the risk of species extinction by 2042; and to restore or create more than 500,000 hectares of wildlife-rich habitat, also by 2042. We have set out our plan to deliver on these ambitious targets, along with our other environmental targets, in the revised Environmental Improvement Plan. The Environment Act 2021 introduced several policies, such as Biodiversity Net Gain, Local Nature Recovery Strategies, and a strengthened biodiversity duty on public authorities, which will work together to support the creation and restoration of habitat to benefit native species such as hedgehogs. Environmental land management schemes will also provide farmers, foresters and other land managers with financial support for a wide range of measures which will deliver positive benefits for native species. Sustainable Farming Incentives and the Countryside Stewardship grant provide financial support in return for delivering environmental benefits. This could include creating, restoring and maintaining hedgerows which are an important habitat for hedgehogs. We have no records of any actions for this species specific to the Romford area.

Clean Air Act 1993

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what reviews he has undertaken on the adequacy of the Clean Air Act 1993 since the Review of the Clean Air Act Call for Evidence Summary of Responses, published in July 2014.

Robbie Moore: Since the Review of the Clean Air Act Call for Evidence Summary of Responses was published, we have passed the Environment Act 2021. This legislation updated our comprehensive legal framework, including by amending the Clean Air Act 1993. The Environmental Improvement Plan published in January 2023 sets out the further actions we will take to reduce emissions, including from domestic sources and industry.

Southern Water: Sewage

Rosie Duffield: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has met Southern Water to discuss sewage discharge since taking office.

Robbie Moore: The Secretary of State and his ministerial team hold regular discussions with representatives of the water industry to discuss a range of issues, including reducing sewage discharges and performance issues. The Government is clear that the volume of sewage being discharged into our waters is unacceptable. This is why we launched the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, setting stringent targets to reduce discharges from storm overflows. This Plan will drive the largest infrastructure programme in water company history - £60bn capital investment over 25 years. On 11 December 2023, the Secretary of State wrote to water companies requesting plans to accelerate action on storm overflows over the next 12 months. This government will continue to take bold action to tackle sewage pollution and hold all water companies, including Southern Water, to account for delivery.

Flood Control: Bassetlaw

Brendan Clarke-Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to support the Environment Agency to produce a flood prevention business plan for Bassetlaw constituency.

Robbie Moore: Under the Flood and Water Management Act (2010) Nottinghamshire County Council (as the designated Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) for Bassetlaw District Council are required to produce a Local Flood Risk Management Strategy (LFRMS). This includes a comprehensive Action Plan detailing the activities that will be undertaken to manage flood risk in the county. Following events such as Storm Babet and Henk, the LLFA is required to undertake investigations (referred to as Flood and Water Management Act (2010) Section 19 Investigations) into the causes and consequences of flooding and these should then be used to update the Nottinghamshire LFRMS with agreed actions which need to be undertaken to effectively manage the flood risk. The Environment Agency is working closely with the County Council and other Risk Management Authority’s to ensure that the evidence of flooding which we have recently experienced is fully reflected in the Plan and the action Plan is revised accordingly. This, coupled with the National 6-Year Capital Programme of works approved by the Regional Flood and Coastal Committee and the Flood Response Planning of the Local Resilience Forum is the framework we use to deliver more resilient communities, as is required by the National Flood Risk Management Strategy.

Food: Waste

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will make an assessment of the implications for his policies of trends in the volume of food waste reported by businesses in the last three years.

Robbie Moore: We are committed to tackling food waste both in the home and across the supply chain and we are working towards eliminating all food waste being sent to landfill by 2030. This year more than £2 million will be spent on a food waste prevention programme delivered by the Waste and Resources Action Programme (WRAP) which includes working with businesses to measure, report and take action on reducing their food waste. Latest data from WRAP shows that between 2018-21 retail food waste fell by 8.5% and manufacturing food waste fell by 9.2%. Furthermore, in line with the commitment in the Net Zero Strategy, we are exploring options for the near elimination of municipal biodegradable waste, including food waste, to landfill from 2028. We issued a call for evidence on 26 May 2023 to support detailed policy development. A Government Response to this call for evidence and further information will be published in due course.

Dogs: Smuggling

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to help reduce puppy smuggling between Northern Ireland and England.

Mark Spencer: The Government takes the illegal importation of pets seriously. It is an abhorrent trade which causes suffering to animals. The Animal and Plant Health Agency continues to work collaboratively with the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs in Northern Ireland and other relevant authorities, sharing intelligence to disrupt illegal imports and safeguard the welfare of animals.

Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure compliance with (a) legal limits and (b) targets for (i) benzo[a]pyrene, (ii) nickel, (iii) nitrogen dioxide, (iv) ozone and (v) particulate matter.

Robbie Moore: We are delivering a wide range of actions to drive improvements to air quality:We introduced two new interim targets for fine particulate matter, which are set out in our Environmental Improvement Plan 2023.Delivering the NO2 programme, which has ring-fenced £883m to work with local authorities to develop and implement measures to address NO2 exceedances in the shortest possible time.Published an update report that sets out the measures taken by operators and regulators to achieve target values for benzo[a]pyrene and nickel in December 2023 at 2021 Reports on Measures - Defra, UK.Reducing the UK’s emissions of ozone precursor chemicals through the EIP and International engagement through the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Long Range Transboundary Air Pollution (CLRTAP). We continually measure ambient concentrations of a wide range of air pollutants, including ozone, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, particles, hydrocarbons, and metallic pollutants at over 500 urban, suburban, roadside, industrial and rural locations throughout the UK. In September 2023 we published the Air Pollution in the UK 2022 report providing the most comprehensive and complete analytical picture of the UK’s air pollution during 2022, at Air Pollution in the UK report - Defra, UK.

Clean Air Act 1993

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the report entitled Assessment of the effectiveness of measures under the Clean Air Act 1993, published on 20 July 2012, is updated to include (a) modern fuels and (b) technologies.

Robbie Moore: We have no current plans to update the named report. Through the Environment Act 2021, we updated our comprehensive legal framework, including by amending the Clean Air Act 1993. The Environmental Improvement Plan published in January 2023 sets out the further actions we will take to reduce emissions, including from domestic sources and industry.

Flood Control: Finance

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to increase funding for flood resilience.

Robbie Moore: The Government announced in March 2020 a record £5.2 billion investment over 6 years in flood and coastal erosion schemes to better protect communities across England. Since April 2021, over £1.5 billion has been invested in flood defence projects across the country and over 67,000 properties have been better protected from flooding. On 26 July 2022, the Government announced the creation of a new £100 million Frequently Flooded Allowance from within the £5.2 billion programme, to support communities that have experienced repeated flooding, reducing the risk of flooding in the future. An additional investment of £170 million of economic recovery funding was provided for 23 flood defence schemes across the country that were shovel ready. The Government is investing a further £200 million is in the Flood and Coastal Innovation Programme to help over 25 local areas to take forward wider innovative actions to improve their resilience to flooding and coastal erosion.

Property Development: Floods

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the potential impact of development in flood plains on the number of properties at risk of flooding.

Robbie Moore: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential. Flood risk is an important consideration in the planning system and there are strong safeguards in place. The government’s National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is clear that inappropriate development in areas at risk of flooding should be avoided by directing development away from areas at highest risk, including floodplains. In 2022/23, 96% of all planning decisions complied with Environment Agency (EA) advice on flood risk. In the same year, 99% of new homes proposed in planning applications complied with EA advice on flood risk.

Water Supply: Licensing

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, how many licences for impounding water were issued by the Environment Agency in 2023.

Robbie Moore: In 2023 the Environment Agency (EA) issued 11 new impoundment licences. The EA also issued 1 normal variation to an existing impoundment license in 2023. Please note that the data may not be complete for December 2023.

River Thames: Boats

Julian Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs, how many boats were registered to use the River Thames in 2023.

Robbie Moore: In 2023 the Environment Agency (EA) has issued 12,790 boat registrations for boats used or kept on the non-tidal Thames. The Canal and River Trust (CRT)/EA operate a Gold Licence scheme which allows boaters to use all EA and CRT waterways for a single fee. The data for figure of CRT/EA Gold licences issued in 2023 will be available in March 2024. As a guide, in 2022, the CRT/EA Gold scheme equated to a further 1,265 registrations for boats on the non-tidal Thames.

Agriculture: Yorkshire and the Humber

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he plans to take to support farmers in areas of Yorkshire affected by recent flooding.

Robbie Moore: The Government has triggered the Flood Recovery Framework in Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Lincolnshire, Nottinghamshire, Warwickshire, West Northamptonshire, Wiltshire and Worcestershire, to provide funding for affected households and businesses as a result of severe flooding caused by Storm Henk. Farmers in these areas are likely to be eligible for a number of these funds, including the Business Recovery Grant (for up to £2,500 per SME business), the Property Flood Resilience grant (up to £5,000 per flooded property) and Business Rate relief. We are currently assessing the impact of the flooding caused by Storm Henk on farmland to enable us to confirm eligible areas for the Farming Recovery Fund. Eligible areas will be within the same areas announced for the wider Flood Recovery Framework, which does not currently include areas in Yorkshire. We are monitoring the situation closely and further guidance on support for farmers affected by the flooding will be published on gov.uk.

Per- and Polyfluorinated Alkyl Substances

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what progress her Department has made towards reducing PFAS emissions through UK REACH restrictions; and what assessment she has made of the impact of restrictions on PFAS in fire-fighting foams on levels of those emissions.

Robbie Moore: On 4 April 2023, we welcomed the HSE’s publication of the PFAS Regulatory Management Options Analysis (RMOA), which represents a significant milestone in the UK’s efforts to protect people and the environment. One of the RMOA’s recommendations, which Defra ministers have accepted, was that work be progressed to reduce PFAS emissions by developing UK REACH restrictions, beginning with a restriction on PFAS in fire-fighting foams, and by exploring further restrictions covering a wide range of industrial and consumer uses. These actions form part of the commitments made within the Plan for Water published in April last year. Work has begun to scope out the restriction on PFAS in firefighting foams as well as potential further restrictions on other uses of PFAS. The Environment Agency has launched a study collecting further information on dispersive uses of PFAS (other than fire-fighting foams), alternatives to PFAS and other information that could be used to assess the impacts of a potential UK REACH restriction of certain PFAS uses. We will share further details in upcoming UK REACH Work Programmes.

Clean Air Zones: Portsmouth

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the clean air zone on improving air quality in Portsmouth.

Stephen Morgan: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Transport on supporting the clean air zone by investing in sustainable transport in Portsmouth.

Robbie Moore: The latest air quality data for Portsmouth was published in September 2023 as part of the 2022 National Compliance Assessment. The report is publicly available and can be found on the Defra UK Air website. Portsmouth City Council has been allocated £9.4 million of funding to implement their local nitrogen dioxide reduction plan and to support those impacted by the plan. We continue to work closely with the local authority as they monitor and assess the success of their plan and consider if further measures are required. The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a wide range of issues, and Cabinet discussions are considered confidential.

Water Supply: Infrastructure

Olivia Blake: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the implications of the Stannington gas flood in Sheffield Hallam constituency for his policies on the level of investment in maintaining and upgrading water infrastructure.

Robbie Moore: As set in the Plan for Water, the Government recognises the need for additional investment in water infrastructure. Ofwat set out a £51 billion five-year investment package in its 2019 Price Review, including requirements for water companies to cut leaks by 16% and reduce mains bursts by 12% between 2020 and 2025. We have also set a statutory water demand target, where leakage will need to reduce by 37% by 2038, this is part of the trajectory to achieving a 50% reduction by 2050. Ofwat will hold water companies to account for delivering leakage reduction targets, with financial penalties if they fail to meet them. In the specific case of the Stannington gas flood, a high-pressure water main rupture led to water ingress into the gas distribution network, impacting around 35 properties. Yorkshire Water responded by replacing the water main away from the gas network and providing a £60 goodwill initial automatic payment to affected customers and compensating for any property and appliance damage.

Flood Control

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with the Environment Agency on the (a) accuracy and (b) targeting of flood warning mechanisms.

Robbie Moore: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Defra’s arm’s length bodies, including the Environment Agency, on a range of issues. This includes many topics on flood and coastal erosion risk management such as the Environment Agency’s flood risk maps and models. The Environment Agency provides the Check for flooding service giving information on flood alerts and warnings as well as a five-day forecast. The Environment Agency uses its flood warning system to directly alert those who have signed up to receive flood warnings when flooding is expected in their area. There are currently around 1.6 million people signed up to receive these warnings.

Women and Equalities

Hospitality Industry: Visual Impairment

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, whether her Department issues guidance to the hospitality sector on the statutory entitlement of visually impaired people to access premises with their guide dogs.

Stuart Andrew: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has published clear guidance on this matter. This is part of its work to ensure that businesses and service providers - including those in the hospitality sector - are aware of their legal responsibilities towards disabled customers with assistance dogs (including guide dogs) and are equipped with the knowledge to ensure the Equality Act 2010 is complied with. The guidance, available on the EHRC website, makes it clear that businesses and service providers should allow assistance dogs access to buildings where dogs would normally not be permitted, whenever this is reasonable. ‘Assistance dogs: A guide for all businesses’www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/assistance-dogs-a-guide-for-all-businesses.pdf ‘Take the lead: A guide to welcoming customers with assistance dogs’www.equalityhumanrights.com/sites/default/files/take-the-lead-welcoming-customers-with-assistance-dogs_0.pdf

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

Future of Women's Football Review

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will Chair the group established to implement the Carney Review recommendations.

Stuart Andrew: The Secretary of State will be chairing the first meeting of the implementation group taking place in March. The implementation group will include key-decision makers across industry with responsibility for taking forward the Review recommendations.

Football: Clubs

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what progress her Department has made on implementing the non-regulatory reforms on player (a) welfare and (b) support outlined in her Department's policy paper entitled A sustainable future - reforming club football governance, published on 23 February 2023.

Stuart Andrew: In the football governance white paper, the Government set out a clear expectation for industry to take further action on player welfare and support. It is for industry to implement these reforms, and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport has had a number of discussions with the sector to discuss this work.

Gambling: Internet

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate she has made of the number of people seeking help for online gambling in each of the last five years.

Stuart Andrew: The department does not gather statistics on the number of people seeking help for gambling-related harms generally or online gambling in particular. However, the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN) provides support and treatment for the majority of people presenting for help for gambling-related harms, and their annual statistics (for 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22, 2022/23) can provide insight on those seeking help for online gambling in each of the last five years.

Loneliness: Rural Areas

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with (a) farming unions and (b) other organisations on tackling (i) loneliness and (ii) isolation for (A) widowed farmers and (B) other people who live alone in rural areas.

Stuart Andrew: Many people experience loneliness and social isolation, and the government is committed to building a more connected society. We know that social isolation can be particularly challenging for those in rural areas, and as outlined in the fourth Annual Tackling Loneliness Report, the Government has introduced a number of measures to provide support for rural communities and farmers. As loneliness is a devolved policy area, these programmes pertain to England only.The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) has committed to a range of measures. This includes providing funding for organisations and initiatives that seek to tackle loneliness in rural areas, like Action with Communities in Rural England (ACRE). Additionally, DEFRA has made tackling loneliness an objective for the Farmers Welfare Forum and has brought together 15 rural community organisations working to tackle loneliness to better understand the issue and target support.In addition, in March 2023 the Department for Culture, Media and Sport launched the Know Your Neighbourhood Fund with £30 million of funding designed to widen participation in volunteering and tackle loneliness in 27 disadvantaged areas across England, including 5 predominantly rural local authority areas.Updates on the progress of these commitments will be published in the fifth annual report in March.

BBC: Public Appointments

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to confirm the next Chair of the BBC.

Julia Lopez: As per the BBC Royal Charter, the BBC Chair appointment is made by Order in Council. The appointment of Dr Samir Shah CBE as the next Chair of the BBC will be put to the next meeting of the Privy Council for final approval, due to take place in February.

Arts: Tax Allowances

Thangam Debbonaire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions she has had with HM Treasury on consultation with creative industry stakeholders on changes to cultural tax reliefs.

Julia Lopez: Since 2010, the Government has supported the success of the creative industries with tax reliefs across the board: from film and TV, to animation, video games, children’s TV, animation, orchestras, museums and galleries, and theatre.All in all, our screen sector tax reliefs alone are estimated to have delivered over 200,000 new jobs and more than £13 billion in Gross Value Added (GVA).These tax reliefs have played a vital role in making the UK’s creative industries world leading, attracting investment and generating jobs and economic growth across the country.The Department for Culture, Media and Sport’s Ministers and officials regularly engage with my HM Treasury counterparts on matters relating to the creative industries, including on cultural sector tax matters.Reforms to the film, TV and video games tax reliefs were announced at Autumn Statement 2022 and were subject to a 12-week policy consultation. HM Treasury met with creative industry stakeholders during this consultation period.Draft legislation for these reforms, and for separate technical clarifications to the cultural tax reliefs for theatres, orchestras and museums and galleries tax reliefs were published in July 2023. The draft legislation was also subject to a 12-week consultation. HM Treasury met with creative industry stakeholders during the consultation period.To maximise the potential of the UK’s cutting-edge production industry and help incubate unique British talent, the Government’s Audio-Visual Expenditure Credit and the Video Games Expenditure Credit came into force on 1 January 2024.

Culture: North East

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the North East.

Julia Lopez: His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations across the North East via Arts Council England.Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 56 organisations (an increase from 47 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the North East, encompassing theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. The total investment in the North East through the national portfolio is currently £24.4 million per year – an increase of more than £2.5 million per year compared to the last portfolio.Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £181 million in arts and cultural organisations in the North East. This includes £8.5 million of public funding through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund, and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations across the North East also benefited from over £36 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Culture: Middle East

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of funding provided by Arts Council England for cultural activities in the East Midlands.

Julia Lopez: His Majesty’s Government is deeply committed to supporting access to high-quality arts and culture across the country, including through public funding to organisations in the East Midlands via Arts Council England.Through Arts Council England’s 2023–26 National Portfolio, public funding is being provided to 72 organisations (an increase from 54 in the 2018–22 portfolio) in the East Midlands, encompassing theatre, dance, museums, visual arts, literature and libraries. The total investment in the East Midlands through the national portfolio is currently £22.6 million per year – an increase of more than £5.4 million per year compared to the last portfolio.Between 2020/21 and 2023/24, Arts Council England will have invested over £198 million in arts and cultural organisations in the East Midlands. This includes £8.7 million of public funding through the Government’s Cultural Development Fund, Libraries Improvement Fund and Museum Estate and Development Fund, administered by Arts Council England. Arts and cultural organisations in the East Midlands also benefited from over £43 million through the Culture Recovery Fund during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Victoria Tower Gardens: Access

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, if she will instruct the Royal Parks to adjust the barriers at the Buxton Memorial Fountain in Victoria Tower Gardens to allow access to the east of the Fountain by the Thames wall.

Julia Lopez: The Royal Parks have full operational responsibility for the Buxton Memorial Fountain and the barriers which have been erected for the duration of essential repairs to it. A temporary footpath has been constructed around the memorial, so that access to the Embankment path remains.

Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Intimate Image Abuse: Internet

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what the impediments are to the removal of non-consensual intimate images posted online.

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what steps her Department is taking to require website providers to remove intimate online images that have been published without consent.

Saqib Bhatti: Where non-consensual intimate images are posted online via user-to-user services, then the providers who operate these services should have the technical ability to remove these images. The Online Safety Act received Royal Assent on 26 October 2023. This legislation will give online service providers new duties to implement systems and processes to tackle illegal content on their services and take this content down, including illegal intimate image abuse content. The Act also updates the law, to make sure that offences criminalising intimate image abuse are fit for the digital age. The intimate image abuse offences, along with the other offences in Part 10 of the Act, will come into force on 31 January.

Telecommunications Cables: Copper

Dr Neil Hudson: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, whether she has had discussions with mobile operators on the withdrawal of copper wire telecommunications networks.

Julia Lopez: Ofcom will monitor the withdrawal of copper services. Ofcom has set out high-level conditions for how the gradual deregulation of BT Group’s copper-based network will function. Ofcom will consider the process which will trigger the complete deregulation of the copper network in the next regulatory review period, which will commence in 2026. The withdrawal of analogue landlines, also known as the PSTN migration, is a separate process to the complete replacement of the copper network. DSIT meets regularly with Communications Providers to discuss their plans for migrating their customers to digital landlines, and to ensure they have adequate processes in place to protect vulnerable consumers. On 14 December, the DSIT Secretary of State convened a meeting with the UK’s leading telecoms providers, including Sky, BT, VMO2 and TalkTalk, to discuss urgent steps to protect vulnerable households when upgrading phone lines to a digital network. In response, the major telecoms providers have now signed a Charter committing to concrete measures to protect vulnerable households, particularly those using telecare alarms. The move represents a positive step by the telecoms industry to make sure safety continues to be at the heart of the nationwide switchover. The Charter can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-switched-telephone-network-charter Furthermore, DSIT meets regularly with Ofcom to ensure that industry adheres to its regulatory obligations throughout the migration process. In addition, we are working with telecare providers, Local Authorities, and Other Government Departments to take further steps to ensure the migration is a success. We also regularly engage with mobile operators on a variety of issues including the PSTN migration.

Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she will implement (a) Section 61 to 65 and (b) the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.

Julia Lopez: We are aiming to implement all remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 by the end of 2024.These provisions are complex, and it is important we ensure they are commenced in a manner that effectively delivers the changes legislated for by Parliament in the Act.DSIT officials will continue to keep stakeholders informed of progress, including more detailed information on likely timelines when appropriate.

Telecommunications: Social Tariffs

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, if he will hold discussions with Ofcom on the advertising and promotion of low-cost offers to low income households by telecoms providers.

Julia Lopez: The Government continues to work closely with Ofcom on the issue of affordability of telecoms services, including social tariffs. In December, Ofcom’s Pricing Trends report, showed that 380,000 UK households now take up a social tariff. While this represents an almost 160% increase from September 2022, we recognise that it represents just 8.3% of the total number of eligible households. Ofcom’s report also showed that just 45% of eligible households were aware of low-cost broadband offers. The Government and Ofcom continue to press operators to ensure their customers know about the support available. In July 2023, Ofcom’s Chief Executive, wrote to the sector to set out the regulator’s expectation that they should do more to promote awareness, such as by highlighting tariffs on bills and end-of-contract notifications. We continue to work with operators to encourage them to take further steps to promote social tariffs to eligible households

Broadband: Voucher Schemes

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, pursuant to the Answer of 15 January 2024 to Question 9003 on Broadband: Voucher Schemes, of the applications received by Building Digital UK since December 2022 how many have been (a) made by and (b) granted to businesses and individuals in Wales.

Julia Lopez: Since December 2022, 4190 vouchers have been requested on behalf of businesses and residential premises in Wales under the Gigabit Broadband Voucher Scheme, all of which were approved by BDUK. 33 of these vouchers were approved under phase two of the voucher scheme and the other 4157 vouchers were approved under the previous phase.

Ministry of Justice

Family Protection Trusts

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to prevent the practice of intermediaries selling mismanaged Family Protection Trusts to clients.

Mike Freer: The legal profession in England and Wales operates independently of government. The responsibility for regulating the sector sits with the approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). Lawyers involved in setting up trusts are subject to regulation by independent regulators.The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of solicitors, as well as most law firms in England and Wales. The SRA’s role involves protecting clients and the public, which means they have powers to prevent solicitors in breach of their standards and regulations from practising.Complaints about solicitors’ poor behaviour and conduct can be made via their website at https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/. If found in breach of said standards and regulations, the SRA has the power to impose a disciplinary sanction against a firm or individual. Further information on the type of sanctions that can be imposed can be found here: SRA | Sanctions | Solicitors Regulation AuthorityAccording to the Legal Services Act (LSA) 2007, setting up a trust is not a reserved legal activity. HM Treasury may be better placed to respond to any questions about financial intermediaries and their role in setting up trusts.

Solicitors: Insolvency

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps his Department is taking to support clients of solicitors who fall into administration who (a) are being misinformed and (b) cease to be informed.

Mike Freer: The legal profession in England and Wales operates independently of government. The responsibility for regulating the sector sits with the approved regulators, overseen by the Legal Services Board (LSB). The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) is responsible for regulating the professional conduct of solicitors, as well as most law firms in England and Wales. The SRA’s role involves protecting clients and the public.The SRA works closely with firms to ensure that consumers’ interests are protected. Their website provides clear guidance for firms that are falling into administration and warns that they will intervene if consumers’ interests are at risk: https://www.sra.org.uk/solicitors/guidance/closing-down-your-practice/.The SRA also provides guidance for consumers affected by their law firm’s closure: https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/solicitor-closed-down/intervention/.The Legal Ombudsman (LeO) is also able to support consumers with concerns about law firms who are no longer operational. Their website provides information with regards to the different routes available for consumers depending on their personal circumstances https://www.legalombudsman.org.uk/for-consumers/factsheets/complaining-about-closed-service-providers/.Firms that fall into administration have a duty to make former clients aware. Notably, there are requirements in respect of the advertising and publication of an insolvency so that creditors and other interested parties are made aware. Further detail on this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/technical-guidance-for-official-receivers/4-publication-of-insolvency-information.

Prisons: Drugs

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of prisons have a drug recovery wing.

Edward Argar: As part of the ambitious cross-Government Drug Strategy, we are rolling out a wide range of interventions to support prisoners off drugs and into recovery. This includes testing a new approach to help prisoners with an opiate dependency achieve abstinence, with seven abstinence-focused Drug Recovery Wings in operation across the estate. Alongside this, we are increasing the number of Incentivised Substance-Free Living (ISFL) units, where prisoners commit to remaining free of illicit drugs with regular drug testing and incentives. We now have 68 ISFLs in operation (55% of prisons), and aim to reach up to 100 ISFLs by March 2025.

Animal welfare: Sentencing

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many pet owners (a) have been convicted of and (b) served prison sentences for offences against their pets under the Animal Welfare Act 2006 in the last two years.

Gareth Bacon: The Ministry of Justice publishes information on prosecutions, convictions and sentence outcomes in the Outcomes by Offence data tool: June 2023 including offences as set out in the Offence Group Classification. The total number of individuals convicted and sentence outcomes for offences under the Animal Welfare Act 2006, can be obtained by selecting the following HO codes: 10829, 10830, 10831, 10832, 10833, 10834, 10835, 10836, 10837, 10838, 10839, 09701, 09702, 09703, 09704, 09705.However, whether the offence was committed by a pet owner against their pet is not held centrally in the Court Proceedings Database. This information may be held on court records but to examine individual court records would be of disproportionate costs.

Department for Work and Pensions

AEA Group: Pensions

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will introduce legislation to allow the (a) Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman and (b) Pensions Ombudsman to investigate complaints about the AEA Technology pension scheme.

Paul Maynard: Complaints about the AEAT scheme have previously been considered by relevant government bodies, including The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) and The Parliamentary and Health Service Ombudsman (PHSO). Decisions on these complaints including whether they are able to investigate them have been taken according to the remits given to them by Parliament and other broader statutory constraints. The Government has no plans to bring forward new legislation for these bodies in relation to this scheme.

Universal Credit: Fraud

Alison McGovern: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what information his Department holds on the 18% of Universal Credit claims which contain an element of fraud.

Paul Maynard: The 18% figure shown in Table 12 of the estimates on Fraud and Error in the benefit system during the financial year 2022 to 2023 is based on a randomly selected sample of UC claims. More detail on the causes of fraud and error in Universal Credit can also be found in Tables 3 and 4 of those statistics. The full estimates for fraud and error in the benefit system for 2022/2023, including the relevant tables, can be found here: Fraud and error in the benefit system: financial year 2022 to 2023 estimates - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Pension Credit: Eligibility

Andrew Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase the number of eligible people claiming Pension Credit.

Paul Maynard: We continue to maximise opportunities to raise awareness of Pension Credit which provides vital financial support to households on a low income. Our Pension Credit Communications campaign, ongoing since April 2022, has included advertising on national TV, newspapers, broadcast radio, on social media and via internet search engines as well as on screens in Post Offices and GP surgeries. We have also used sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their family, and friends are likely to visit.Our latest campaign messaging highlighted that Pension Credit can be worth up to £3,900 on average and is a passport to a range of other help and benefits – including Cost of Living payments. There is a strong indication that the campaign has had a positive impact and has resulted in an unprecedented number of Pension Credit applications. The number of claims received in the financial 2022-23 was more than 80% higher than over the same period the year before.The latest available figures covering the three months to May 2023 show an increase in the Pension Credit caseload. More households were receiving Pension Credit in May 2023 than in May 2022 at the beginning of the campaign. The recent quarterly increases in the caseload in August, November 2022 and now May 2023 – the first increases since 2009 - are very welcome and significant.

Disability: Cost of Living

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment the Government has made of the impact of increases in the cost of living on people with disabilities; and what recent steps his Department has taken to increase cost of living support for people with disabilities.

Mims Davies: The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has demonstrated its commitment to supporting the most vulnerable by providing one of the largest support packages in Europe. Taken together, support to households to help with the high cost of living is worth £104 billion over 2022/23 to 2024/25. In April 2023, we uprated working-age and extra costs disability benefit rates and State Pensions by 10.1%. From this April, and subject to Parliamentary approval, we also intend to uprate working-age and extra costs disability benefit rates by 6.7%. The increase in the Local Housing Allowance rates to the 30th percentile of local market rates will give further help to 1.6 million low-income households. For 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to £900 in Cost of Living Payments. This will be split into three payments across the 2023/24 financial year, with the first two payments having already been made and the final payment of £299 being paid between 6 February and 22 February. A separate £150 payment was made to individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits, including PIP, from 20 June. In addition, more than eight million pensioner households across the UK received a £300 Cost of Living Payment during winter 2023-24. The Department estimates that over 2023/24 nearly 60% of individuals that receive a qualifying disability benefit will receive additional support through a means-tested benefit payment, and over 85% will receive either or both of the means-tested and Pensioner Cost of Living Payment.

Assistance Animals: Registration

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of creating a national register for trained service dogs.

Mims Davies: Standards for assistance dogs are currently and historically maintained on the basis of a voluntary regulatory framework. There is no specific legislation for the regulation of assistance dogs and no legislation is planned.There are recognised standards for assistance dogs worldwide set by international bodies by which a number of UK charities and organisations are accredited. Assistance dogs are also provided by other charities and private sector organisations, including owner trainers, which are not accredited by international bodies.Assistance dogs or other animals might be regarded as such, if they serve to mitigate disabilities, whether physical, mental or behavioural conditions, and they have sufficient training to warrant public access.The Disability Action Plan consultation (DAP), which ran from July to October 2023, contained specific questions about assistance dogs and access to businesses and services. We have analysed the consultation responses carefully and we aim to publish the final Disability Action Plan as soon as possible.The Disability Action Plan will set out the immediate action we will be taking in 2024 to improve disabled people’s lives, including to improve support for people with assistance dogs and reduce access refusals, as well as laying the foundations for longer term change. It will complement the National Disability Strategy, which sets out our long term vision for disabled people in the UK.

Social Security Benefits: Disqualification

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will take steps to ensure that people who are unable to (a) attend appointments at their local Jobcentre and (b) meet the requirements for receiving benefits as a result of underlying health conditions issues are not sanctioned.

Mims Davies: All work-related requirements are set in discussion with claimants, who take ownership of planning how they will meet their requirements and ultimately secure employment, if they are able to do so. Generally, work coaches have the discretion to adjust how often the claimant meets with them and how these meetings take place, in light of the claimant’s needs, circumstances and capability. Should a claimant fail to carry out a mandatory work-related activity that has been agreed and set out in their Claimant Commitment or Work plan, we will ask them why. We will take into account any reasons they provide, including any health conditions, before referring for consideration of a sanction. When considering whether a sanction is appropriate, a Decision Maker will take into account all the claimant’s individual circumstances, including any health conditions or disabilities and any evidence of good reason, before deciding whether a sanction is warranted. We also have a well-established system of hardship payments, available as a safeguard if a claimant demonstrates that they cannot meet their immediate and most essential needs as a result of their sanction, including accommodation, heating, food and hygiene. All claimants will retain the right to mandatory reconsideration or appeal a decision should they disagree.

Pensioners: Single People

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of (a) financial and (b) social assistance support available for single pensioners.

Paul Maynard: No such assessment has been made. The Government has announced plans to increase the basic State Pension, the new State Pension and the Standard Minimum Guarantee in Pension Credit by 8.5% in April 2024. This follows last year’s largest ever cash increase in the State Pension. The Government also provides additional support to older people. The Winter Fuel Payment, which this year also includes the £300 pensioner Cost of Living Payment, is paid on a household basis meaning a single pensioner will receive £500 or £600 depending on their age. Regarding social assistance support, under the Care Act 2014, local authorities are tasked with the duty to shape their care market to ensure a diverse range of high quality, sustainable, person-centred care and support services are provided.

Bereavement Support Payment

John McNally: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department plans to make unmarried long-term childless couples eligible for Bereavement Support Payment.

Paul Maynard: Bereavement Support Payment is currently only available to those who are married, in a cohabiting relationship with dependent children, or in a civil partnership. We currently have no plans to change the eligibility criteria for Bereavement Support Payment.

Universal Credit

Sir Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the Universal Credit taper rate.

Jo Churchill: In November 2021, The Government reduced the taper rate from 63% to 55%. There are no current plans to further reduce the taper, however this will be kept under review.

Department for Transport

Midland Main Line: Electrification

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the likely completion date of the electrification of the Midland Main Line to Sheffield.

Huw Merriman: Recent plans from Network Rail indicate that electrification of the Midland Main Line route to Sheffield and Nottingham could be completed in the early 2030s, subject to the necessary business case approvals.

Motor Vehicles: Testing

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will require MOT tests to use decibel meters to ensure that exhaust noise levels are legally compliant.

Guy Opperman: MOT testers are required to check if exhausts comply with the Construction and Use regulations that prohibit alterations which create excessive noise. Testers are generally capable of identifying these instances without a decibel meter, and those that are not can be identified by the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency. The MOT is an important safeguard, but excessive motor vehicle noise is also a result of nuisance driver behaviour that is regulated by local authorities.

Speed Limits: Cameras

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of acoustic cameras; and whether he plans to increase the usage of such cameras.

Guy Opperman: As set out in the Government’s Plan for Drivers, the Department intends to publish the findings of the trial shortly. Subsequently, it will issue guidance to local authorities setting out minimum requirements and best practice for the use of noise cameras. This will support Local Authorities to make greater use of the technology.

KPMG: Contracts

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the contract awarded by his Department to KPMG LLP on 12 December 2023 under procurement reference TROP0094, if he will publish the (a) services to be delivered under that contract and (b) purpose of that work.

Huw Merriman: a) Professional servicesb) Support to the private sector financing of the Euston Quarter

Roads: Shrewsbury

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will have discussions with Shropshire Council on the potential impact of the North West Relief Road on (a) levels of (i) congestion in Shrewsbury town centre and (ii) emissions and (b) journey times within Shrewsbury.

Guy Opperman: The Department for Transport continues to work with Shropshire Council, but has not yet received the Full Business Case (FBC) from them. Once this has been received, then officials will examine the local authority’s proposals before putting any recommendations to Ministers.

Railways: Industrial Disputes

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the impact of industrial action on the number of rail cancellations between Shrewsbury and (a) Birmingham and (b) London in 2023.

Huw Merriman: The Department does not hold specific statistics on the cancellations caused by industrial action on services between Shrewsbury and either Birmingham or London during 2023. However, such action will undoubtedly have caused severe disruption and inconvenience for passengers on this route throughout the year.

Driving Licences: Non-fungible Tokens

Daniel Kawczynski: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of using non-fungible tokens in the issuing of driving licences.

Guy Opperman: The Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency will continue to monitor any relevant ongoing work within government on non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

Roads: Repairs and Maintenance

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the proportion of roads managed by local highways authorities that were classified as roads on which maintenance should be considered in each year since 2015.

Guy Opperman: Statistics on this matter are published annually by the Department here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/road-condition-statistics-data-tables-rdc.

Railways: Yorkshire and the Humber

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) cost of and (b) completion date for the restoration of the Don Valley Line between Sheffield and Stocksbridge.

Huw Merriman: The Department is in the early stages of planning next steps, including delivery timescales for the Don Valley line project. A Strategic Outline Business Case (SOBC) for this project has already been completed by South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), with funding from the Restoring Your Railway Ideas Fund. Work with SYMCA has started to plan and develop the modal and route options for the next stage of work, which will inform the remit for production of an Outline Business Case. HS2 savings have been set aside to fund development and delivery of the scheme. More detail on cost and completion date will be included as part of the Outline Business Case.

Railway Stations: Haxby

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) cost of and (b) completion date for the upgrade of Haxby Station.

Huw Merriman: Design work is underway as part of Engineering Stage 4 and a planning application is forecast to be submitted in February. Engineering Stage 5 is due to begin in April 2024 with a Full Business Case expected to be submitted to the Department once that work is complete. The current anticipated cost of the project is estimated to be £23.1m. These estimates remain subject to change as the project develops. HS2 savings have been set aside to fund development and delivery of the scheme. More detail on cost and completion date will be included as part of the Full Business Case.

Railway Stations: Sheffield

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the policy paper entitled Network North, published on 4 October 2023, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) cost of and (b) completion date for the upgrade of Waverley Station.

Huw Merriman: In the near-term, the Waverley project is being progressed by the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), who will lead the project as far as Single Option Selection and the development of an Outline Business Case. The Department will then fund the project to delivery, subject to the updated business case. More detail on cost and completion date will be included as part of the Business Case.

Railway Stations: Ferryhill

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if his Department will publish the Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment status of planned upgrades to Ferryhill Station.

Huw Merriman: All the projects within Network North will be progressed and developed in line with the principles of Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE), which is the approach used by Network Rail to govern, manage and progress rail enhancements. Many of these projects are at the start of that process, reflecting their nature as new priorities, while other schemes had already made progress ahead of the announcement. The project was initially proposed by Durham County Council who led on the initial development work. Since being confirmed for progression, the Department has further developed the project's business case, looking at route capacity, station locations and has updated the forecast costs. The next PACE stage for the Ferryhill station project will be Engineering Stage 1.

Railways: Midlands

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) final cost and (b) completion date of the Midlands Rail hub.

Huw Merriman: Network North increased the funding of Midlands Rail Hub to £1.75bn and committed to deliver the scheme in full.MRH is being developed for delivery in two phases. The first phase, improved services between Birmingham, Bristol, Cardiff and Worcester, is currently anticipated to be operational in the early 2030s. The second phase, improved services between Birmingham and the East Midlands, is currently anticipated to be operational from the mid to late 2030s.

Railways

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) final cost and (b) completion date of the proposed reopening of the Beeching Lines.

Huw Merriman: The Restoring Your Railway programme comprises a number of schemes at different stages of development and delivery. Costs and delivery timeframes will vary by scheme.

Euston Station: Housing

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) final cost and (b) completion date of the proposed Euston Quarter development.

Huw Merriman: Following the Network North announcement on 4 October 2023, we are upping the ambition of the Euston redevelopment, to create a transformed ‘Euston Quarter’. We are going to deliver a station that can be open and running trains as soon as possible while radically reducing its costs, enabling £6.5bn of savings to be spent on transport projects across the country. We will deliver a 6-platform station which can accommodate the trains we will run to Birmingham and onwards and which best supports regeneration of the local area. We will update Parliament on the progress on developing the proposal for the Euston Quarter, including providing updated schedule and costs estimates, in due course.

North Wales Coast Line: Electrification

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) final cost and (b) completion date of the electrification of the North Wales mainline.

Huw Merriman: As part of the Prime Minister’s Network North announcement, the Government committed an unprecedented £1 billion investment to fund the electrification of the North Wales Main Line. We continue to work through the next steps for developing and delivering the scheme.

Bus Services: Fares

Fleur Anderson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to help increase the affordability of bus travel.

Guy Opperman: In the National Bus Strategy, the Government set out a bold vision to transform bus services around the country; a key part of this vision was making bus services more affordable. We therefore introduced a £2 cap on single bus fares in England outside London on 1 January 2023 to help passengers save on their regular travel costs. The Government is investing nearly £600 million to deliver the scheme, including additional funding redirected from HS2 to keep the cap in place until the end of 2024. There are currently over 140 bus operators and more than 5,000 routes in the scheme.The Department’s statistics show that following the introduction of the £2 fare cap in January 2023, bus fares in England outside London dropped by 6.2% between September 2022 and September 2023, whereas in Scotland, Wales and London, where buses are devolved and not included in the £2 fare cap, fares increased by 9.8%, 6.2% and 6.0%, respectively.In October 2023, the Prime Minister also announced that a further £1 billion would be redirected from HS2 to deliver better bus services in the North and the Midlands. This funding is in addition to the more than £1.2 billion the Government is already providing to Local Transport Authorities (LTAs) to deliver their Bus Service Improvement Plans (BSIPs). BSIP funding is intended to be used by LTAs to support the aims of the National Bus Strategy to make buses more frequent, more reliable, easier to understand and use, better co-ordinated and more affordable. It sets out the changes we want to see on fares, including for low flat fares (or maximum fares and daily price caps) to be the norm within cities and towns. Each LTAs BSIP sets out how they will achieve these objectives, including plans and costs for implementing new fares and ticketing policies, in addition to the Government’s £2 fare cap, to reduce costs for passengers.

Blue Badge Scheme: Northern Ireland

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 11 January 2024 to Question 8344 on Blue Badge Scheme, for what reason he has not provided information on the Blue Badge Scheme in Northern Ireland.

Guy Opperman: The Blue Badge scheme is devolved in Northern Ireland. The Department for Infrastructure collects and publishes its own statistics.

Driving: Young People

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to (a) publish the results of the Driver2020 research project and (b) bring forward policy proposals based on that project.

Guy Opperman: We plan to publish the results of the Driver 2020 project soon; this is an evaluation of interventions to improve the safety of young novice drivers, in partnership with the Transport Research Laboratory (TRL). This project commenced in January 2019 and over 28,000 learner and novice drivers were recruited. This project, the progress of which has been delayed by Covid, includes a telematics trial. It aims to make young drivers safer, more confident, and more skilful in their first year of driving through non legislative, technical or educational measures with potential to lower their risk of collisions. We are awaiting publication of outcomes before considering further measures we can take to improve road safety for young drivers.

Railways: Greater Manchester

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the (a) Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline status and (b) Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment stage of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project between Bradford and Manchester is; and when Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment approval was received.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the (a) final cost to the public purse and (b) completion date of the Northern Powerhouse Rail project between Bradford and Manchester.

Huw Merriman: We are making progress on planning and delivering the schemes within Network North alongside our other rail enhancements priorities, working with Network Rail and other delivery partners to develop and deliver the benefits of this investment The Northern Powerhouse Rail project between Bradford and Manchester is part of the Government’s Network North proposals, which commit to providing up to £2bn (in 2019 prices) for significant improvements in rail connectivity between Bradford and Manchester (via Huddersfield) and a new station in Bradford. The £2bn from Network North is in addition to £500m committed in the Integrated Rail Plan to upgrading the line between Leeds and Bradford Interchange with opportunity to reduce journey times to as low as 12 minutes between Leeds and Bradford. All the projects within Network North will be progressed and developed in line with the principles of Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE), which is the new approach used by Network Rail to govern, manage and progress rail enhancements, replacing GRIP. We are working closely with our Arms Length Bodies, and other delivery partners, to develop delivery timescales and further information will be shared once work is more mature.

Hope Valley Line: Electrification

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the planned electrification of the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester has entered the Rail Networks Enhancements Pipeline; what estimate he has made of the project's final cost; and when he plans the project will be complete.

Louise Haigh: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, in what stage of the Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment process the planned electrification of the Hope Valley line between Sheffield and Manchester is; when he expects that stage to be complete; and what the likelihood is of the project’s entry to the next stage.

Huw Merriman: The industry is in the early stages of planning its next steps to bring the Hope Valley scheme into the Rail Network Enhancement Pipeline. Like all projects it will be progressed and developed in line with the principles of Project Acceleration in a Controlled Environment (PACE), which is the usual approach used by the industry.

A1 (M): Repairs and Maintenance

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with Highways England on (a) potholes and (b) defects on the southbound carriageway north of junction 7 of the A1 (M); and when this stretch of carriageway will be repaired and resurfaced.

Guy Opperman: Departmental officials have regular dialogue with National Highways about maintenance on the Strategic Road Network. In the last 3 months, National Highways (NH) has carried out repairs and addressed defects on the A1(M) southbound approach to junction 7. National Highways has a comprehensive road inspection and maintenance programme to maintain safe roads and to reduce the potential for potholes and other surface defects. Further work will be done between 12 and 16 February. Subsequently, NH has plans to carry out further permanent road surface patch repairs within a 2km stretch of the A1(M) southbound approach to junction 7.

Transpennine Express Rail Franchise

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what information his Department holds on the number of carriages on the TransPennine express service which will be scrapped by April 2024.

Huw Merriman: The Department is not aware of any plans by rolling stock owners to scrap carriages currently on lease to TransPennine Trains. The operator plans to return 66 Mark 5A carriages, which are currently surplus to requirements, to their owner Beacon Rail Leasing.

Railways: North of England

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department's timescales are for the introduction of a third fast train each hour between Sheffield and Manchester.

Huw Merriman: The Government is committed to upgrading the Hope Valley line which would help enable a third fast train between Manchester and Sheffield. The industry is in the early stages of planning next steps including delivery dates. The plan builds on the ongoing upgrades to the line due to complete this Spring which will deliver performance and capacity improvements for passengers and freight.

Midland Main Line: Rolling Stock

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects the planned new rolling stock for the midland mainline to be available.

Huw Merriman: Good progress is being made by East Midlands Railway (EMR) on the introduction of their new Class 810 ‘Aurora’ fleet with the first unit now going through testing. EMR are meeting with the manufacturer, Hitachi, this month to discuss the delivery timescales of the programme after which a firm timeline for passenger service introduction is expected.

Railway Stations: Visual Impairment

Sir John Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many railway stations in England have tactile paving on platforms to help visually impaired people.

Huw Merriman: In England, 1,825 main line stations have full or partial tactile paving at platform edges. We have made £75m available to Network Rail to install platform edge tactiles at all main line stations across Great Britain that do not already have them, or where they are not due to be installed by another workstream. When the programme started in July 2021, 710 stations in England did not have tactiles installed on some or all platforms. Since July 2021, tactiles have been installed at more than 550 stations, with the remainder within the programme due to complete by 2025.

Transport: Snow and Ice

Mr Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department is taking steps to mitigate against the effects of cold weather on transport.

Anthony Browne: The Secretary of State for Transport can confirm that well-practised resilience plans have been put in place across the transport network in preparation for the winter period.

House of Commons Commission

Parliamentary Estate: Pests

Sarah Olney: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how much has been spent on repairing damage caused by pests on the Estate in each of the last three years.

Sir Charles Walker: We do not hold the individual costs for responses to incidents logged via the Maintenance Helpdesk as these works are captured by an overall budget that covers routine maintenance and/or larger refurbishment works. It is not possible to break down this amount according to works repairing pest damage.In February 2023, the Heritage Collections team treated 17 pieces of the Historic Furniture and Decorative Arts collection for moth infestation at a total cost of £4,512.81+VAT. There has been no other treatment in the last three years.

Parliamentary Estate: Pests

Sarah Olney: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, how many instances of property damage by pests were reported to parliamentary authorities in each of the last three years.

Sir Charles Walker: In the last three years, there have been seven incidents reported to the Maintenance Helpdesk relating to property damage caused by pests:2021 – 12022 – 32023 – 3Separately, through its routine condition surveys of heritage items over the last three years, the Parliamentary Heritage Collections team has identified 43 objects that have pest presence, pest activity, or pest damage.

Wales Office

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the (a) membership and (b) remit is of the people, skills and business sub-group of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board.

David T C Davies: (a) Membership The People, Skills and Business sub-group membership will include a wide range of people including Tata Steel representatives, business leaders, officials in the UK Government and the Welsh Government, employees of Neath Port Talbot Council and community representatives, including a regional Member of the Senedd. Trade Union representatives will also be invited. (b) Remit The People, Skills and Business sub-group is being established to provide immediate support for the people, businesses and communities directly affected by Tata Steel UK’s decarbonisation transition. The sub-group will operate beneath the Transition Board, to coordinate activity at a local level and report progress and challenges and make recommendations to the Transition Board.

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what the (a) membership and (b) remit is of the place and regeneration sub-group of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board.

David T C Davies: (a) Membership  The Place and Regeneration sub-group membership will include a wide range of people including Tata Steel representatives, business leaders, employees of the UK Government and the Welsh Government, employees of Neath Port Talbot Council and community representatives, including a regional Member of the Senedd. Trade Union representatives will also be invited. (b) Remit  The Place and Regeneration sub-group will provide the Transition Board with advice on how to protect and grow the economic environment as a result of Tata Steel UK’s decarbonisation transition. They operate beneath the Transition Board, to coordinate activity at a local level and report progress and challenges and make recommendations to the Transition Board. The Place and Regeneration sub-group will develop a Local Economic Action Plan that will provide the Transition Board with advice on how to ensure regeneration and economic growth for the local area for the next decade.

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent estimate he has made of when the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board will receive recommendations on investment from the sub-groups.

David T C Davies: The Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board will start to receive recommendations on investments from the sub-groups after the formal consultation on the transition has begun. Decisions on investment will happen once the consultation has concluded and there is an understanding of what the impact of Tata Steel’s decarbonisation plans will be.

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether representatives from trade unions were invited to attend the two meetings of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board.

David T C Davies: I invited Community, Unite and GMB trade union representatives to both of the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board meetings that have taken place so far. There have been trade union representatives in attendance at both meetings. I also met with the trade unions outside of the Transition Board and will continue to engage interested parties from trade unions, business and the communities affected.

Tata Steel: Port Talbot

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether the Tata Steel and Port Talbot Transition Board has undertaken its review of the group’s terms of reference.

David T C Davies: The Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board reviewed and agreed the terms of reference at the inaugural Board meeting on Thursday 19 October 2023. The Tata Steel / Port Talbot Transition Board has been established to provide advice on how to protect and grow the economic environment and to support and mitigate the impact on those workers, businesses and communities directly affected by Tata Steel UK decarbonisation transition.

Hospitality Industry: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with hospitality businesses in Wales on commercial energy costs.

David T C Davies: My officials and I regularly meet with businesses across Wales, including those in the hospitality sector, to discuss a variety of issues.The Government provided an unprecedented package of support of £7.4 billion through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS) which ended on 31 March 2023, shielding businesses and saving some around half of their wholesale energy cost.The EBRS was replaced by the Energy Bills Discount Scheme (EBDS), which provides support to all eligible non-domestic energy users paying the highest energy prices starting from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024. Since the scheme was introduced, wholesale energy prices have now fallen significantly, and inflation has fallen from its peak of 11.1% to 4%.In addition, at Autumn Statement 2023, the government announced that it is freezing Climate Change Levy rates for 2025-26 to continue achieving CCL’s environmental objectives without increasing the impact to businesses’ energy bills.The UK Government is providing further support to the hospitality sector by freezing alcohol duty until August 2024, and increasing the new Draught Relief duty from the initially proposed 5% to 9.2%. In addition, in England, we have extended the 75% relief on business rates available to hospitality, retail and leisure businesses. I am concerned about the impact of the cut to non-domestic rates relief for hospitality businesses proposed by the Welsh Government in their recent draft budget.

Post Office: Wales

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the payment of compensation to sub-postmasters in Wales affected by issues with the Horizon system.

David T C Davies: The Government has already paid out over £153 million to over 2,700 victims. In the overturned convictions scheme, 95 convictions have been overturned, with 31 claimants agreeing full and final settlements. Over £33 million has been paid out to those with overturned convictions, which includes interim payments and partial settlements. Of the original trailblazing postmasters in the “GLO” group who took the Post Office to court and exposed the Horizon Scandal, £27 million has been paid out to 477 claimants. The original 2,417 postmasters who claimed through the original Horizon Shortfall Scheme have now all had offers of compensation. Offers have totalled over £107m and over £93 million has been paid out in this scheme, with Post Office now dealing with late applications and with those cases where the initial offer was not accepted. In the coming weeks, we will introduce new primary legislation to quash all convictions that were reliant on erroneous Horizon evidence. Once this legislation is passed, and convictions have been overturned, they will be entitled to at least £600,000 in compensation to rebuild their lives.

Rented Housing: Wales

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the impact of increased rental costs on renters in Wales.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the impact of increased rental costs on tenants in Wales.

David T C Davies: Although housing is a devolved matter the UK Government is supporting renters in Wales by increasing the Local Housing Allowance (LHA). From April 2024, the UK Government will be investing £1.2 billion increasing LHA rates to cover the lowest 30% of local market rents. Around 1.6 million private renters in receipt of Housing Benefit or Universal Credit will gain nearly £800 per year on average in additional help towards their rental costs in 2024/25. In Wales, around 82,500 households are set to benefit from the boost. This significant investment, taken together with the wider benefits uprating, will improve housing affordability for low-income households on benefits renting in the private sector, helping them afford their rent and reducing the risk of rent arrears and homelessness. More broadly, the UK Government and Welsh Government are working closely to apply the prohibition against Blanket Ban practices in Wales. Through the Renters (Reform) Bill we will achieve our shared objective to make sure families with children and people who receive benefits can access homes in the private rented sector. Moreover, the National Living wage will increase by 9.8% to £11.44 per hour for workers over 21 and the National Minimum wage will increase by 14.8% to £8.60 per hour for people aged 18-20. This will benefit 140,000 people in Wales and is further evidence of the support the UK Government is providing to support people with the cost of living.

Department for Energy Security and Net Zero

Car Parks: Solar Power

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to the CPRE, the countryside charity's campaign entitled A rooftop revolution: turning possibility into reality, whether he plans to take steps to help ensure that (a) new car parks are built with solar photovoltaics as standard and (b) existing car parks are retrofitted with solar photovoltaics.

Andrew Bowie: Following full technical consultation, the Government introduced changes to permitted development rights for solar equipment in December 2023. These changes included the introduction of a new permitted development right that allows for the installation of solar canopies in non-domestic, off-street car parks. These changes simplify planning processes and enable more solar installations to benefit from the flexibilities and planning freedoms permitted development rights offer.

Trees

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to page 26 of the research paper by Chatham House entitled BECCS deployment: the risks of policies forging ahead, published in October 2021, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of that paper's findings on the carbon payback period of a mature tree; and whether her Department has made an estimate of the carbon payback period for unabated wood burning.

Andrew Bowie: The Government views sustainably sourced biomass as low carbon, in line with independent organisations such as the CCC and IPCC, as set out in the Government Biomass Strategy, published in August 2023. Only biomass that complies with strict sustainability criteria receives support from Government. For forest derived biomass, the criteria includes requirements around sustainable forest management including regeneration rates and sustainable harvesting, requiring that the carbon stock of the forest is not decreased. In 2024, Government will consult on a cross sectorial sustainability framework to see where we can strengthen the criteria further based on latest evidence.

Drax Power Station

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, how much the Drax power station has received in subsidies for burning wood in each of the last eight years; and if she will make an estimate of the amount of CO2 that was released from its chimneys in that period.

Andrew Bowie: Information is only available on Drax’s support for electricity generation from all types of biomass, (including wood from sustainable sources) and on lifecycle greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.The figures in the table below give the value of the support under the Renewables Obligation scheme for generation from all the types of biomass used by Drax.YearNotional value of support under the Renewables Obligation[1]2015/16£548.1m2016/17£547.9m2017/18£399.2m2018/19£513.3m2019/20£508.9m2020/21£508.5m2021/22£619.7m2022/23£634.2m[2]  From 2016 (the start of their support under the Contracts for Difference scheme) to 2023, Drax was paid £1.38bn in net difference payments. The details are published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company on their Data Portal[3].Drax’s GHG emissions under the Renewables Obligation are available in Ofgem’s sustainability datasets[4]. For the Contracts for Difference scheme, Drax’s avoided GHG emissions are published by the Low Carbon Contracts Company on their Data Portal. [1] Support under the Renewables Obligation is through tradeable certificates. The figures give the notional value of the support[2] Provisional figure as all the certificates for 2022/23 may not have been issued yet.[3] The Low Carbon Contracts Company’s Data Portal is at: https://dp.lowcarboncontracts.uk/dataset/actual-cfd-generation-and-avoided-ghg-emissions/resource/fa730219-fbd2-41b5-9510-ba2b0ff2c1ba[4] Ofgem’s annual sustainability datasets are at: https://www.ofgem.gov.uk/environmental-and-social-schemes/renewables-obligation-ro/renewables-obligation-ro-suppliers/biomass-sustainability

Heating: Fuel Oil and Liquefied Petroleum Gas

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to support those who live off-grid and rely on (a) oil and (b) liquified petroleum gas to heat their homes.

Amanda Solloway: Last winter, the Government provided a £200 support payment to those households who use alternative fuels through the Alternative Fuel Payment. Since then, prices of such fuels have decreased significantly, and consequently the Government does not intend to repeat the scheme this winter. The Government is continuing to support those who need it the most, with millions of households receiving up to £900 in further cost of living payments. This is in addition to established support for vulnerable and low-income households through the Winter Fuel Payment worth £250 - £600 and the £150 Warm Home Discount, which has been extended to reach around a million more people compared with the previous scheme prior to winter 2022.

District Heating

Sir Brandon Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps her Department is taking to support community heat networks.

Amanda Solloway: Heat networks are a key technology for meeting our net zero target. The Government is developing the following through the Heat Network Transformation Programme: Accelerating deployment of low carbon technologies for new and existing heat networks through the Green Heat Network Fund, which was recently allocated an additional £485m to 2027/28Improving the performance of heat networks through £77m of funding for the Heat Networks Efficiency SchemeIntroducing heat network zoning in England in 2025 to boost sector growthBuilding skills to encourage investment and jobs growth through the Heat Training GrantIntroducing regulated consumer protections by 2025

Energy: Prices

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she plans to take to help households with rising energy costs in the next 12 months.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps she is taking to help support low-income households with rising energy costs.

Amanda Solloway: The Government recognises the challenges posed by cost-of-living pressures, including the impact of energy bills, and is already providing extensive financial support to households. This includes a package of support to assist households and individuals with rising costs of living that will total over £104 billion, or £3,700 per household on average, over 2022-2025. This includes further cost of living support to vulnerable households, including a £900 payment for those on means-tested benefits, £300 for pensioner households and an extra £150 for people on an eligible disability benefit.

Energy Charter Treaty

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, with reference to her Department’s review of the UK’s membership of the Energy Charter Treaty, what discussions her Department has had with other signatories and contracting parties to that Treaty who are seeking to withdraw from it.

Graham Stuart: The UK holds regular meetings with Contracting Parties to the Energy Charter Treaty, including the EU and EU Member States.

Energy: Meters

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what data her Department holds on the number and proportion of smart meters operating in (a) smart and (b) non-smart mode.

Amanda Solloway: Data on the number and proportion of smart meters working in smart mode and traditional mode (non-smart mode) across Great Britain can be found in the following ‘Smart Meter Statistics in Great Britain’ official statistics report: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/64ef30a2da8451000d632450/Q2_2023_Smart_Meters_Statistics_Report.pdf

Attorney General

Government Legal Department: Newcastle upon Tyne

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Attorney General, with reference to the Government Legal Department Business Plan 2023-24, published on 23 May 2023, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of using the Pilgrim Quarter development as a worksite for the Government Legal Department.

Robert Courts: Whilst Newcastle is not currently under consideration as a base for the Government Legal Department (GLD), the GLD's position might change in the future if demand for GLD services increases in the region.GLD sites have been selected based on a model of developing a national organisation located in the proximity of its clients and using established legal markets which have strong pipelines for recruiting from diverse pools.Decisions on sites are evidence-based, for example, on research and analysis of local academic and labour markets, whilst also reflecting various Government estate and property initiatives such as Places for Growth.The Pilgrim Quarter Development will be the Government Hub for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) in the North East, housing 9,000 HMRC employees when complete. As GLD does not currently offer legal services to HMRC, we would not automatically co-locate within their sites.

Government Legal Department: Equal Pay

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Attorney General, when she expects the Government Legal Department to publish its gender pay gap report for the financial year 2022-23.

Robert Courts: The Government Legal Department will publish its gender pay gap report for the financial year 2022-23 by 30 March 2024.

Government Legal Department

Sir George Howarth: To ask the Attorney General, pursuant to the Answer of 18 December 2023 to Question 6413 on Government Legal Department, what the composition is of (a) her Department's Legal Advisers and (b) the Government Legal Department Litigation Group; and what (i) their legal qualifications and (ii) the professional standards to which they are required to adhere are.

Robert Courts: The composition of the Ministry of Justice Legal Advisers Team, a division of the Government Legal Department (GLD), is as follows:DescriptionStaff numbersHead of Division/Director (Senior Civil Service Pay Band 2)1Deputy Director (Senior Civil Service Pay Band 1)6Senior Lawyer (Grade 6)23Lawyer (Grade 7) & Junior Lawyer (Legal Officer)37Senior Executive Officer, Higher Executive Officer0Legal Trainee, Executive Officer, Administrative Officer10The composition of the GLD's Litigation Group is as follows:DescriptionStaff numbersHead of Division/Director (Senior Civil Service Pay Band 2)1Deputy Director (Senior Civil Service Pay Band 1)30Senior Lawyer (Grade 6)136Lawyer (Grade 7) & Junior Lawyer (Legal Officer)336Senior Executive Officer, Higher Executive Officer51Legal Trainee, Executive Officer, Administrative Officer203These civil servants act on behalf of and in the name of the Treasury Solicitor, and pursuant to section 88 of the Solicitors Act 1974 are not required to be admitted or enrolled as a legal practitioner. They predominantly comprise of solicitors and barristers, the majority of which are admitted to practice in England and Wales, although some are qualified to practice in other jurisdictions.The Costs Litigation Team includes qualified costs lawyers, in addition to which a small number of qualified legal executives are also employed in the Litigation Group. The balance of staff comprises legal trainees, apprentices, paralegals, and business support staff.Qualified lawyers are required to adhere to the professional standards of their respective profession (solicitor, barrister, costs lawyer, or legal executive), and all staff are required to comply with the Civil Service Code.

Crown Prosecution Service: Standards

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the Crown Prosecution Service in (a) prosecuting cases and (b) providing (i) information, (ii) assistance and (iii) support to victims.

Robert Courts: The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) rolled out a new Crown Court operating model last year. This is a more effective and efficient approach to justice as it means the CPS serve more material on the defence at a much earlier stage so they can be more robust with case management and encourage earlier guilty pleas.The CPS is transforming the service it provides to victims through its Victim Transformation Programme. The Programme is delivering an improved Universal Service offer for all victims of crime, which will build victims’ understanding of the role of the CPS, ensure that victims understand their rights, and signpost victims to relevant support.The Victim Transformation Programme also includes an Enhanced Service offer for adult victims of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO). The Enhanced Service will include the offer of a meeting with a member of the prosecution team once a victim has been notified their case is proceeding to trial. This will give victims the opportunity to discuss what happens next and ask questions about the process. The Enhanced Offer will also include a dedicated Victim Liaison Officer in all CPS RASSO Units to help improve the quality of engagement with adult RASSO victims.The Victim Transformation Programme builds on actions the CPS has already taken to improve the quality of the communications and the service it provides to victims. For example, the CPS has published an online guide for all victims of crime, which explains what they can expect when their case reaches the CPS and what their entitlements are as victims. This has had nearly 110,000 views in total since its launch in September 2022. It follows an earlier guide the CPS produced for victims of rape and serious sexual offences, which has had over 320,000 views since November 2021.

Crown Prosecution Service: Standards

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Attorney General, what recent assessment she has made of the effectiveness of the CPS in ensuring access to justice for victims of crime.

Robert Courts: Speedy access to justice is in the interest of victims, defendants, witnesses, and society.The Ministry of Justice is co-ordinating cross-government action to support the Crown Courts and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is engaging with key delivery partners to support longer term improvements. The national Criminal Justice Board, re-instated last year by the Lord Chancellor, is a welcomed opportunity to identify and tackle the challenges faced by the criminal justice system.The CPS rolled out a new Crown Court operating model last year. This is a more effective and efficient approach to justice as it means the CPS serve more material on the defence at a much earlier stage so they can be more robust with case management and encourage earlier guilty pleas.Further, the CPS has an important role in ensuring that victims are informed and supported. The CPS is transforming the service it provides to victims through its Victim Transformation Programme. The Programme is delivering an improved Universal Service offer for all victims of crime, which will build victims’ understanding of the CPS’ role, ensure that victims understand their rights, and signpost victims to relevant support.The Victim Transformation Programme also includes an Enhanced Service offer for victims with the greatest needs. The first cohort of victims to receive the Enhanced Service offer will be adult victims of rape and serious sexual offences (RASSO). The Enhanced Service will include the offer of a meeting with a member of the prosecution team once a victim has been notified their case is proceeding to trial. This will give victims the opportunity to discuss what happens next and ask questions about the process. The Enhanced Offer will also include a dedicated Victim Liaison Officer in all CPS RASSO Units to help improve the quality of engagement with adult RASSO victims.